1. David Goncalves Valadao is an American politician and dairy farmer serving as the US representative for California's 22nd congressional district since 2023.
27 Facts About David Valadao
1. 2.
David Valadao lost in 2018 to TJ Cox, but was reelected in 2020.
3.
David Valadao was one of ten Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump during Trump's second impeachment and one of two of those Republicans to be renominated and reelected, along with Dan Newhouse.
4.
David Valadao defeated Democratic nominee California assemblyman Rudy Salas for the 22nd congressional district in a rematch in 2024.
5.
David Valadao's parents are Portuguese immigrants; his father grew up on the Azores Islands.
6.
David Valadao's father established a dairy farm in Kings County, California in 1969.
7.
David Valadao has been a member of the California Milk Advisory Board, Western States Dairy Trade Association, and Regional Leadership Council chairman for Land O' Lakes.
8.
David Valadao announced his candidacy for California's 30th State Assembly district after the 2010 retirement of Republican assemblyman Danny Gilmore.
9.
David Valadao's challengers were Democrat Amanda Renteria, a former political aide to Dianne Feinstein and Debbie Stabenow, and John Hernandez, the Democratic nominee Valadao defeated in 2012.
10.
David Valadao ran for reelection to a third term in 2016.
11.
In 2018, David Valadao was initially set to face Huerta again in a rematch, with Huerta announcing his bid in May 2017.
12.
In June 2022, David Valadao placed second in the open primary for California's redistricted 22nd congressional district, advancing to the November general election.
13.
David Valadao's victory made him one of just two House Republicans who supported impeaching Donald Trump to remain in Congress after the 2022 election, alongside Dan Newhouse of Washington.
14.
In February 2017, David Valadao voted against a resolution that would have directed the House to request ten years of Trump's tax returns, which would then have been reviewed by the House Ways and Means Committee in a closed session.
15.
On January 13,2021, David Valadao was one of ten Republicans who voted for the second impeachment of Donald Trump for inciting the insurrection at the US Capitol.
16.
David Valadao later said that despite misgivings about the process that the Democrats used to send the impeachment article to the floor, he felt he had to "go with my gut and vote my conscience" and vote to impeach.
17.
On May 19,2021, David Valadao was one of 35 Republicans who joined all Democrats in voting to approve legislation to establish the January 6 commission meant to investigate the storming of the US Capitol.
18.
In 2017, David Valadao was blacklisted by Azerbaijan for taking part in a visit to Armenia and a disputed, breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is populated and governed by ethnic Armenians.
19.
In 2025, David Valadao withheld his support for a House resolution to cut at least $1.5 trillion from the federal budget, citing concerns about Medicaid reductions.
20.
David Valadao was one of eight House Republicans to publicly push Speaker Mike Johnson not to slash the benefit.
21.
In 2016, David Valadao voted for a measure that banned discrimination against LGBT employees by federal contractors.
22.
In 2015, David Valadao did not join many other prominent California Republicans in signing a US Supreme Court brief in favor of same-sex marriage.
23.
On February 23,2017, David Valadao called for a bipartisan solution to the US immigration system.
24.
In June 2018, David Valadao released a statement about the Department of Justice's "zero tolerance" policy, which involved separating children and parents at the Mexican border.
25.
In December 2017, David Valadao voted in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
26.
David Valadao has criticized the Trump administration's imposition of tariffs against Chinese steel and aluminum imports, which prompted China to impose retaliatory tariffs on a range of US agriculture products.
27.
In 2013, David Valadao was one of 15 House Republicans to vote against a Republican-backed bill to make deep cuts in food stamp spending.