Democrat Randy Villegas Wins California's 22nd Congressional District

The Associated Press declared Democrat Randy Villegas the winner of California's 22nd congressional district on November 4, 2026, unseating six-term Republican congressman David Valadao. The race was one of the most closely watched House contests in the state, and the result was called at 1:17 p.m. Eastern time, according to the AP.

The seat was redrawn this year after California voters approved Proposition 50, a ballot measure, on November 5, 2025. Proposition 50 changed the district's boundaries, and the seat was considered the only true toss-up in California after the change. The district stretches across the Central Valley, from Bakersfield to just west of Fresno. In March 2026, the Cook Political Report moved its rating of the race from "tossup" to "lean Democrat," according to CalMatters.

Villegas is a community college professor and a former Visalia School Board member. He ran as a progressive Democrat and vowed not to accept corporate campaign donations. He was endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the labor leader Dolores Huerta. He advanced to the November contest after the June 2 primary, a vote in which candidates of all parties appeared on one ballot.

Valadao sought a seventh term. He cast one of the decisive votes for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the federal law passed earlier in the Trump administration's current term. He ended the campaign with $1.7 million in cash on hand and received more than twice as much money from political action committees, the groups that pool donations for candidates, as the average House candidate, according to the Guardian's reporting.

The two men have more in common than their parties. Both are Central Valley natives from immigrant families with working-class or agricultural ties. The district itself has a high level of need. It has the second-highest rate and number of Medicaid enrollees of any congressional district, Medicaid being the government health coverage program for lower-income Americans, and it is one of the poorest congressional districts in the country.

Early results on election night told a similar story of a wide margin. With about 45% of the vote counted, Villegas led Valadao with nearly 65% to 35%, CalMatters reported. The AP's call came later, after more ballots had been tallied.