Democrats on Tuesday claimed the final congressional seat in the 2024 election cycle, when Merced Democrat Adam Gray unseated Republican incumbent Rep. John Duarte in a photo contest in California's Central Valley.
California's 13th Congressional District was the last remaining race for the U.S. House of Representatives and had the narrowest margin in the country. Gray was ahead by 187 votes when Duarte accepted Tuesday night.
After trailing in the first three weeks of vote counting, Gray took the lead on Nov. 26 when mail-in ballots tilted in his favor.
Gray, 47, said in a prepared statement Tuesday that he was honored to be elected and thanked the volunteers, voters, donors, campaign staff and family who helped him win.
“This district is ready for independent, accountable leadership that always puts the people of the Valley ahead of partisan politics,” Gray said.
Gray said he would work to build bipartisan relationships and deliver “clean water, better educational opportunities, stronger infrastructure and more good-paying jobs.”
Duarte accepted Tuesday night, a campaign spokesman said.
“That's the way it is,” Duarte told the Turlock Journal on Tuesday. “I am a citizen legislator and I did not plan to be in Congress forever. But whenever I believe I can make a difference, I will consider public service in different ways, including running for Congress again.”
Republicans will retain a slim majority in the House of Representatives next year. With Gray's victory, Republicans will have 220 seats (just above the 218-seat threshold needed to control the chamber) and Democrats will have 215.
The Republican Party will have an even narrower majority through parts of January. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) resigned from the House last month. Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida has been named national security adviser to President-elect Donald Trump and is expected to resign, as is Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York if she is confirmed as United Nations ambassador.
The 13th Congressional District was one of a half-dozen seats in California considered pivotal in the fight for control of Congress, and was one of three in the state that Democrats wrested from Republican control.
In Orange County, Democrat Derek Tran unseated Republican Rep. Michelle Steel, and in northern Los Angeles County, Democrat George Whitesides defeated Republican Rep. Mike Garcia. Democrats also held on to a seat vacated by Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine), and state Sen. Dave Min defeated Republican Scott Baugh.
Republicans fared better in the other Central Valley swing district, where Rep. David Valadao defeated Democrat Rudy Salas by nearly 7 points. Salas presented his candidacy for Congress again on Tuesday in 2026.
The GOP also held a seat in Riverside County, where voters re-elected longtime Republican Rep. Ken Calvert over Democrat Will Rollins, a former federal prosecutor.
The rural 13th Congressional District stretches from Coalinga to Modesto, encompassing Merced County and parts of Fresno, Madera, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties.
The district appears blue on paper, with 42% of registered voters affiliated with the Democratic Party, compared to 29% registered as Republicans and 22% registered with no party preference.
But the Central Valley is more purple than the deep blue districts surrounding the Bay Area and Los Angeles, and the area's conservative Democrats often cross party lines to elect Republicans.
The 2024 campaign was a rematch of 2022, when Duarte beat Gray by 564 votes, the second-closest margin in the country.
This year, Duarte campaigned to reduce gas prices and the cost of living. Duarte, whose family owns a large farm in the San Joaquin Valley, presented himself to voters as a moderate Republican, saying he had opposed his party on abortion and immigration and had instead stuck with intermediate political proposals.
Gray billed himself as a “radical centrist,” pointing to his decade in the state Assembly as proof he could work across party lines. In August, he told The Times that he decided to run again against Duarte because he thought the incumbent and Republicans had accomplished little in Congress to help ordinary Americans.
