BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK/KBFX) — With Election Day approaching, candidates up and down the ballot are making their final pitch to voters in Bakersfield, where immigration enforcement and health care costs took center stage.
Becerra, Villegas campaign in Bakersfield as Election Day nears. KBAK/KBFX
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra and Democratic congressional candidate Randy Villegas visited Bakersfield, where Villegas also responded to criticism from his opponent, Rep. David Valadao, over Villegas’ political allies and positions.
Valadao argued that Villegas’ ties to prominent progressives could be a liability with voters.
“A person like AOC or Bernie Sanders is not gonna help in that situation. It’s gonna just prove exactly who he is. He’s a very extreme person that is very partisan and not looking to build relationships across the aisle,” Valadao said.
Valadao joins Eyewitness News for an interview ahead of the November 3 elections.
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Villegas pushed back, saying the bigger issue is Valadao’s voting record and how it affects families in the Central Valley.
“What is extreme is ripping away healthcare from 70,000 people in our district,” Villegas said. “What is extreme is my opponent voting for a nationwide abortion ban. What is extreme is tripling ICE’s budget without any meaningful reforms”
Thursday night, Villegas brought that message to a Bakersfield rally alongside Becerra and long-term care workers. Health care was a key focus, with both Democrats criticizing Valadao’s support for H.R. 1, President Donald Trump’s tax and spending law.
“Congressman Valadao voted, even though he said he would not hurt families with health care, he voted for HR1, President Trump’s bill, which gutted a trillion dollars out of health care and sent the money to tax cuts for billionaires and corporations,” Becerra said.
Beyond health care, Villegas said immigration enforcement is another major concern for families. He criticized Valadao for supporting more funding for ICE without what he described as meaningful reforms or accountability.
“We saw ICE agents targeting street vendors, farm workers, U.S. citizens who’ve been pulled over and detained by ICE, veterans who’ve been detained by ICE” Villegas said.
Becerra, Villegas campaign in Bakersfield as Election Day nears. kbak/kbfx
He also pointed to rising costs, including groceries and gas, as issues he said are putting pressure on working families.
Villegas said he wants to restore funding for programs such as Medicaid, SNAP and in-home supportive services, while also working to lower prescription drug costs.
“If you want to represent the community you should have the respect to show up for those communities and that is something David Valadao hasn’t done in over a decade,” Villegas said.
He added: “It’s not this fight about left versus right. It’s really us versus them — working families in the Central Valley who’ve been left behind by politicians in both parties”