Outgoing Rep. John Duarte (R-Modesto) might not be finished with Federal politics just yet.
A Friday news report from NOTUS notes that Duarte could be waging a bid to take on a post in the incoming Trump administration of critical importance to San Joaquin Valley farmers.
The backstory: Duarte, a first-term Republican who narrowly won his newly-created seat in 2022, was defeated by former Assemblyman, now Congressman-Elect, Adam Gray (D–Merced) in a multi-million dollar rematch last month.
- Duarte lost the race by a mere 187 votes, an even smaller margin than the one he held when defeating Gray in 2022.
Driving the news: Now, the Modesto nursery owner and farmer is allegedly eyeing a key post in the Trump administration amid his impending exit from Capitol Hill.
- Hill publication NOTUS reported Friday that Duarte is launching a bid to serve as the Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
- Reclamation serves one-half of the equation for California’s water management, with it controlling the Central Valley Project – a labyrinth of waterways feeding into and out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta from northern California to the San Joaquin Valley and into Southern California.
- Per NOTUS, Duarte began “approaching fellow Republicans in the California delegation and the Trump transition team” about the post.
What he’s saying: Duarte or his office haven’t made public comments about claims of a shadow campaign for the Bureau of Reclamation post.
- In an interview with NOTUS prior to the news spreading, Duarte said he planned to return to the Valley to get back to his business and farms, but left the door open to future service.
- “If I see an opportunity and need to step back up, I will,” Duarte said. “If [this term in Congress] has been it, this is it.”
