A mailer attacking Rep. David Valadao (R–Hanford) sent out by a progressive Political Action Committee is pushing to suppress GOP support of the Hanford dairyman by, in an odd twist, backing former President Donald Trump and his long-sought border wall.
The progressive PAC – the Voter Protection Project – attacked Valadao for supporting a bill in 2021 that it alleged would bring “more illegals in to take Central Valley jobs.”
The big picture: People living in the 22nd Congressional District received a mailer with an altered image of Valadao on one side in front of the border wall, with a graphic saying “David Valadao is a traitor to President Trump.”
- The other side has an altered image of Valadao looking through an open door in the wall and accused Valadao of standing with “the radical Democrats’ immigration bill.”
Go deeper: The mailer attacked Valadao for his votes on three bills from 2013 to 2021 and for voting to impeach Trump in 2021.
- The Voter Protection Project attacked Valadao for supporting H.R. 15 in 2013 and H.R. 6 in 2021 while opposing H.R. 695 in 2018.
- H.R. 15 was an immigration reform bill that passed through the Democratic-controlled Senate. The Republican-led House of Representatives killed the bill by not taking a vote on it.
- H.R. 695 was a spending bill to avoid a partial government shutdown. Valadao initially voted against the bill before supporting it in a second vote. The bill allocated $5.7 billion for the border wall.
- H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, would have provided certain illegal immigrants with a pathway to citizenship. The bill passed the House of Representatives and was not taken up by the Senate.
- The VPP did not respond to questions by The Sun asking if the PAC supports Trump’s border wall.
Driving the news: The VPP was started by Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz after he lost to former Rep. Devin Nunes (R–Tulare) following the 2018 election.
- Janz resigned his position with the VPP in 2022 before he became the Fresno City Attorney.
Flashback: Valadao faced similar attacks from the VPP in his 2022 race against former Asm. Rudy Salas (D–Bakersfield).
- Similar mailers two years ago also accused Valadao of betraying Trump and keeping the borders open.
- The VPP received a $125,000 contribution from the House Majority PAC in 2022, run by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D–San Francisco), which likely funded the mailers.
