On Oct. 25th, Adam Gray and John Duarte voiced their stances on environmental health, abortion, affordable housing, food prices, same-sex marriage, social security and Medicare, gas prices, immigrant status, and the Latino community. And here’s everything you need to know:

Working with the “opposing” political party
Both Duarte and Gray claimed themselves as centrist in the past, which brought up the question of what is the primary difference between the two candidates.

Adam Gray ran for legislature in 2012, representing Merced County and Stanislaus County. He “fought for a region” that he thought to be underrepresented. In the 10 years of his legislative career, he founded the California Solver Caucus.

“A bipartisan caucus made up of equal Democrat and Republican members doing work and trying to break ground on compromise and consensus.
Gray further details that he has been able to work with Republicans to pass bills, as well as to stop “bad legislation.”

“My record is what I encourage voters to look at. Anybody and everybody at election time can claim they’re a moderate.”

“The record is what matters not the rhetoric.”

Duarte’s voice is not about being a partisan rather it is about looking out for the communities in the Central Valley and understanding the ongoing issues within those communities.

Duarte states,“I’m proud to tell you Heritage Action considers John Duarte the lowest ranked Republican by every one of their standards in the House of Congress.”

Duarte makes it clear that he does stand against the extremes of both parties and expresses that he wants individuals to be able to love who they love. He goes on to say that he wants women to have freedom too.

“I want everyone to have freedoms and choice, but you know what I really want? I want the American dream alive and I will bring that American dream back to life, back in this valley.”

Duarte is also the first Republican the Central Valley Leadership Roundtable endorsed. This association consists of Democrats and Independents, hinting at the idea that he is able to work with other parties besides just the republican party.

“I’ll stand with my party when that makes sense. I’ll stand against my party when that makes sense.”

His priority is to get “life back on track” in the Central Valley.

In the one-minute rebuttal, Gray announces the fact that Adam casted a vote in Washington DC that empowered a Republican leadership group. Adam claims that the empowerment of the group has been in no way productive and has been the least productive in American history.

Adam goes as far to say that sweet talk is nice and all, but it is important to know what is on the records and that he has done the hard part, which is standing against his own party.

Maintenance of clean water
Duarte makes it clear that there is no competition in agriculture with rural communities, rather there is a sense of partnership.

“We need to get treated water plants up and down the west side of the valley,” he says.

Duarte also briefs over the cost of the infrastructure, stating it would cost around 50 million dollars to start. Then he explains how the federal government put billions of dollars into the High-Speed Rail Project that could’ve been used for the funding of water plants, allowing treated surface water into the valley.

“I’ve already challenged the Bureau of Reclamation to change the way they operate our reservoirs to increase the yield of the cities and farms.”

With that last statement, Duarte fulfilled his two-minute response. Leading the audience to Adam Gray’s response on how he would help the Central Valley communities have access to clean water.

Gray acknowledges that in the last half a century California has grown its water supply by less than one percent and claims it to be “unacceptable.”

“What we’ve gotten from the federal government is excuses and blame.”

Gray insinuates that Duarte himself is making excuses as a politician because he stated that the government had the money but funded the money on projects like the High-Speed Rail Project when it was his time to respond.

“I’ve worked with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents in Sacramento to get us the money and we need someone to go to Congress and actually get them back to work.”

Gray voices that there hasn’t been anyone to pass a budget that would fund the work necessary to get a better source of water for drinking and agriculture. This raises the concern that politicians have not been able to compromise with one another and emphasizes the importance of finding common ground to fix issues such as the maintenance of water and the water supply itself.

Duarte rebuttals by stating the bond that Gray supported was to supply public benefit water. He elaborates that public benefit water is not for the people, but rather for the creatures such as fish and birds.

“But none of the water generated up insights from that water bond is coming to a faucet or a farm near you or in this state.”

Adam’s response was that water bonds were built without promising a solution for all the problems, and restates that he believes it is vital for the federal government to help with such issues.

Climate whiplash
Both candidates were asked what policies they supported that’d protect the people and their property with the condition of weather that California has seen as the “new normal.”

Gray immediately says that there should be someone in office who believes that climate change is a real issue and takes a serious approach to it. He shares that he and his colleagues have implemented emissions reduction programs and they have in fact funded them.

Gray also claims that they worked with agriculture and have used that to their advantage. An example of this would be using biomass to create renewable energy, hoping that in the future the use of renewable energy will be used by many. Gray acknowledges two big contributors to climate change are energy and manufacturing. His solution is to fund a new transition that uses clean energy.

Gray is also quick to call Duarte out, referencing back to their first run. He claims that Duarte had voted against the Democratic Socialists and their green energy policies. Duarte counters Gray by stating that “if we’re actually concerned about climate change and I’ve been chuckling on this one for a while… where in the heck is our nuclear energy policy. Why are we dailing down nuclear energy plants that make no carbon whatsoever.”

Duarte then goes into depth about the cost of energy and how that typically leads to Californians leaving their state.

“If you believe in your soul that carbon needs to be taken out of the environment. Talk to me about natural gas, talk to me about nuclear power, or explain to the working families in this district why you’re selecting the least workable solutions and putting them on their backs.”

Adam responds by stating that it can be misleading to the people, allowing people to think that both the use of renewable energy and affordable pricing aren’t doable. He then restates the importance of the subject matter and the effects it may provide for the future of agricultural life in the valley.

Abortion
When asked about abortion, Duarte claimed to be pro-choice and that hasn’t changed at all from this election to the last one.

“I’m one of two Republicans in the entire Congress that voted against the Clyde amendment. I protected the right of military women to be flown to a state that allows abortion when they’re stationed not by choice of their own to a state that doesn’t allow abortion.”

Gray answers the question by quickly stating that he helped pass a constitutional amendment that helped protect the freedom of choice in California. He also voices that many women’s lives have been put at risk because of the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade. Gray also makes a counterargument on the stance Duarte had made at the beginning of this question.

“John wants to present himself as pro-choice when he is endorsed by Californians for Life, a pro-life organization.”

Gray goes as far as to turn to Duarte and share, “What pro-choice means, John, is that a woman is free to choose her own reproductive health care regardless of what state she lives in. That’s just a fundamental right. That’s what I’m for.”

Duarte’s rebuttal, “I’m pro-choice.”

Affordable Housing
Affordable housing has been a challenge for valley residents, Brianna Vaccari says in her question about people being able to afford a home. She asked Duarte and Gray as congressmen what they could do to ensure housing is affordable in the valley, and these were their responses.

“I’m so passionate about moving infrastructure dollars from facility projects to projects that actually make housing more affordable and life more easy for residents here in the valley”, Duarte mentions.

Gray responds with what he thinks would be the thing to create affordable housing. He says that the reason housing is scarce is because there are no workers to do the jobs, proposing more people should be taught to do construction.

“ …To get more housing… We’ve got to have that investment of infrastructure and beyond that we got to find the workforce… we need programs in our high schools, we need apprenticeship programs we really need to support a lot more young people getting into these professions and we need to allow people that want to come here from other countries to be a good citizen work and contribute and do something for their family” says Gray.

Income vs. food prices
Both candidates clearly stated what they plan to do to improve income inequality and the struggles families are facing to make ends meet. This has been a topic of discussion that both parties answered and had their differences on what they will do to help families in the valley put food on their table.

Adam Gray briefly mentioned the agricultural part of how that is part of the food and how students from UC Merced have been helping harvest equipment to create solutions.

“We are working with nonprofits and our local governments to actually create incubators for folks to start new industries and new opportunities all the time…the wonderful agricultural industry we already have but we have to do more,” says Gray.

The other candidate mentions going to Washington D.C. to change things.

“Cost of living and affordability has two big pieces: price of goods and your wages. When the price of goods is going up because we are not running our economy efficiently and companies are leaving because we are not running our economy efficiently, we’ve got to change things” Durate quotes.

Same-sex marriage
Both candidates briefly answered the same-sex marriage question, which specified the proposition on the ballot on federal marriage equality policy.

The democratic candidate says “I support equality and think the federal government will have a policy just like the one we’ve protected and passed here in California to allow any Californian to marry whomever they choose and live the life that they choose to live.”

On the other side candidate Duarte mentioned that he also supports the same-sex marriage policy but has a different stance on the way he views it because of his children.
“I have four children… I want for each of them is to find someone great…I want them to find whatever great person they like…I want same-sex marriage available, protected, enshrined, respected and celebrated” Duarte said.

The democratic candidate, Gray, answered him by saying that he hopes they both can agree with it and he would love to see the Republican party join us and help protect the equality of same-sex marriage.

Social Security and Medicare
Duarte emphasizes the importance of safeguarding the trust fund of Medicare and Social Security, warning that without action, these resources could be depleted in the coming years. If we continue down this path, Duarte believes that the funds will go bankrupt and then there will be a cut in funding to the people.

He asserts that both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives need to collaborate to ensure the sustainability of Medicare and Social Security moving forward.

“I am strongly in favor of a bipartisan condition where we get together and make the hard decisions and come out and co-own them in a bipartisan effort to save all these important entitlement programs.”

Gray believes that it would be unacceptable for people to not receive what they have been made from social security. He claims that Duarte and the Republican leaders have voted to cut Social Security and Medicare in Washington. He plans to not make any cuts to these trust funds.

“This is the silly nonsense that is going on in Washington DC and the few votes that they’ve accomplished again in what have been the most unproductive session in US history have been to slash things like Social Security and Medicare.”

Gas prices
To solve high gas prices, Gray argues that increasing energy production is essential, pointing out that the Biden-Harris administration has facilitated more energy production during their term than any other in history. However, he contends that drilling alone will not resolve our gas issues and advocates for greater investment in renewable energy.

He emphasizes that California requires more responsible leadership and improved budgeting. Additionally, Gray asserts that the federal government must take more initiative to address these challenges, urging that Congress needs to work diligently toward effective solutions.

“I know every resident here in San Joaquin works hard every day and is just looking to get a Congress that works as hard as they do and tries to accomplish things and solve problems, not blame others for their problems.”

Duarte claims that Adam Gray is raising gas taxes, arguing that if we’re going to increase gas prices, we should use these funds to add more lanes to the freeway. He points out that traffic congestion is a persistent issue and that expanding the highways could reduce both traffic and gas consumption.

Additionally, Duarte believes that the taxes collected from gas are not being allocated to road improvements as intended.

“This is nuts…If we are going to collect gas taxes, we need to build residents the streets they deserve and that they pay for in those gas taxes. We’re not doing it and it’s a joke.”

High-Speed Railway Project
Gray claims that the High-Speed Railway project is over budget and delayed. However, if the project were to be scrapped, the funding would end up going toward other states. He believes that the project requires better management so that the money won’t be relocated towards another state’s project.

Duarte believes that continuing to fund this project is of no use to Californians and that the funding could be used better in other places such as water treatment plants. He claims that the high-speed railroad project has created a bigger carbon footprint than California has in the past 17 years. Duarte emphasizes that the project must be stopped as it is a waste of resources.

Immigrant status
Gray states that the U.S. needs an immigration policy that prioritizes work visas and green cards, allowing immigrants to actively contribute to the job market. He points out that many positions, particularly in housing construction, remain unfilled.

He criticizes Duarte for not doing enough, noting that he introduced immigration reforms only a week before the elections, suggesting that Duarte was inactive during his two-year term until just before the vote.

Gray believes it’s essential to challenge extreme partisan rhetoric. He references a party leader who claimed that “immigrants poison the blood of America” and labeled the U.S. as the “garbage can of immigration.”

Duarte has received endorsements from several mayors across the valley. He advocates for a secure border with effective border patrol. He explains that he initially voted against a border bill because it contained a clause that would push families into the shadows.

Although he opposed his party on this issue, he later supported the bill when it returned for a vote, as the problematic verification clause had been removed.

“I told them that this isn’t going to work for my family in the Central Valley, that it would hurt our community.”

Latino Community
During the discussion of the Latino community, Gray claims he has the backing of law enforcement leaders, which he attributes to his collaboration with them on key law enforcement policies. He believes that people prioritize quality education, so he engages closely with community colleges and high schools. Additionally, he has invested in medical schools to improve healthcare access.

Gray focuses on providing healthcare, creating new industries for job opportunities, and exploring agricultural byproducts as potential energy sources.

“These are the kind of real policies as to why the Latino community and every other community ought to send someone to congress who is going to be serious about the work and not just spend the days telling stories and blaming others and having excuses.”

Duarte highlights that immigrants come to America in pursuit of the American Dream and its rich resources. However, he feels we are neglecting these resources, pointing to California’s water issues, declining farmland, and the increasing prevalence of valley fever affecting people’s health.

He argues that letting forests burn instead of actively managing them for logging is a lost opportunity. Additionally, he emphasizes the need to expand oil fields, suggesting that this neglect has limited prospects for newly immigrated families.

“While I’m in the House of Representatives, I am going to go to the mat to make sure the door to the American Dream stays wide open in the United States for new families coming here for the American Dream.”

Closing statements
Duarte was born and has raised his family in Modesto. He has been dedicated to the Central Valley, working on getting millions of dollars to support agencies like those fighting drug trafficking. He emphasizes that he is doing his best to make sure that federal resources are flowing down to local law enforcement.

“Think of me as a waiter. I am here to help you improve your community by whatever I can get you from the government.”

Duarte discusses how he will work on getting the valley clean water to reduce health issues and put funding towards improving infrastructure.
Gray has represented California for a decade, asserting that he has prioritized the valley. He emphasizes his commitment to putting the people first, above party politics.

He notes that it’s easy to place blame on others, but often we need to reflect on ourselves. Gray believes that when both parties collaborate, significant progress can be made on initiatives like infrastructure improvements and water projects.

“Go look at our records, see what John has accomplished in two years in Congress. See what the leadership of his party has accomplished in the last two years in Congress and look at what I did over 10 years in the state legislature.”

If you have yet to vote, polls are open until Nov. 5. Remember, your vote matters so make it count!