In close California House race, John Duarte battles for reelection against challenger Adam Gray

In one of the most closely watched U.S. House races in the country, results in the Central Valley contest between GOP Rep. John Duarte and Democratic challenger Adam Gray for California’s 13th Congressional District were too close to call on election night, with vote counting scheduled to continue.

The election marked the second time the pair have vied for this seat in Congress. In 2022, after weeks of counting, Gray lost to Duarte by 564 votes, making it the second-closest House race in the nation that year.

Once again, the hotly contested race was seen as pivotal in this year’s fight for control of Congress. It was one of several California seats that could shape whether Democrats or Republicans will win the House of Representatives.

The rural district stretches from Coalinga to Modesto, encompassing Merced County and parts of Fresno, Madera, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. Here, 42% of registered voters are Democrats, compared with 29% registered as Republican and 22% registered with no party preference.

While Democrats have an advantage over registered Republicans, the Central Valley is home to many conservative Democrats, who often cross party lines to elect Republicans. Unlike the deep blue congressional districts that surround the Bay Area and Los Angeles, the Central Valley is often purple.

Duarte campaigned on lowering gas prices and the cost of living. He pitched himself to voters as a moderate Republican, saying he bucked his party on abortion and immigration, instead sticking to middle-of-the-road policy proposals.

Duarte described himself as pro-reproductive rights, but he supports the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe vs. Wade, which previously established abortion as a federal right, saying he instead supports leaving abortion policy to each state. He has voted in favor of legislation that would threaten medical providers with prison time for failing to resuscitate infants born alive during an attempted abortion, an exceedingly rare occurrence.

Gray, who served in the Assembly for 10 years, campaigned as a “radical centrist” who pointed to his time in the state Legislature to show his record of working across party lines. In August, he told The Times that he chose to run against Duarte again despite losing in 2022 because he felt Duarte and Republicans had accomplished little in Congress to help everyday Americans.

In the Assembly, Gray helped create a bipartisan group of moderates called the Problem Solvers Caucus. He bucked his party on water conservation issues, opposing Democratic-led efforts to curtail the amount of state and federal water flowing to San Joaquin Valley irrigation districts.