Sen. Bernie Sanders campaigns for Randy Villegas in Bakersfield as CA-22 race intensifies

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Sen. Bernie Sanders campaigned in Bakersfield on Sunday alongside Democratic congressional candidate Randy Villegas as part of his "Fighting Oligarchy" tour, with 30 days remaining until Election Day.

The event at Bakersfield High School's Harvey Auditorium drew supporters who lined up for hours despite triple-digit temperatures in Bakersfield.

Villegas, a Visalia Unified School District trustee, opened the rally by telling the crowd about growing up in Bakersfield as the son of immigrants from Mexico, working weekends at his family's auto shop and relying on programs like Medi-Cal, SNAP and WIC. He said he became the first in his family to graduate from a university.

"For decades, we have been taken for granted by Sacramento and by Washington, D.C.," Villegas said.

Much of his speech focused on health care. Villegas accused Valadao of breaking a public promise not to cut Medicaid by voting for the Republican budget bill last year, and repeated his pledge to back a single-payer health system.

"When you elect me to Congress, I will be a day one co-sponsor of Medicare for All. No one should have to choose between rationing their insulin and paying for groceries," Villegas said.

Villegas also called for a path to citizenship for immigrants, criticized tariffs and foreign beef imports he said are undercutting Valley ranchers and pledged to hold regular public town halls across the district. He said his campaign does not accept corporate PAC money.

Sanders, who endorsed Villegas before the June primary, framed the race as part of a national fight against the influence of the wealthy.

"Never before in American history have so few people had so much wealth and so much power," Sanders said.

Sanders told the crowd that Valadao's district has one of the highest shares of Medicaid recipients in the country and criticized his vote on the budget bill. He also called for overturning the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, getting super PACs out of elections and ending U.S. involvement in the war with Iran.

"At a time when so many people are hurting, we are not going to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on endless wars," Sanders said.

Sanders also spent part of his speech on artificial intelligence, warning it could eliminate millions of jobs, including in trucking and transportation, and threaten privacy. He said Congress should pause the development of advanced AI.

"Please do everything you can until Election Day to make sure that Randy is your next congressman," Sanders said.

Sanders' visit came days after House Speaker Mike Johnson campaigned in the district for Republican Rep. David Valadao during a rally Wednesday, highlighting the national attention focused on California's 22nd Congressional District.

"We can do this, and it starts in California's 22nd District. I am not kidding. The road to the majority, and thus the road to save the country, goes through the Central Valley," Johnson said during the rally Wednesday.

RELATED: Speaker Mike Johnson in Bakersfield for David Valadao campaign event

Under the new Proposition 50 district map, Democrats hold a 16-point voter registration advantage in the district. However, low Democratic turnout, particularly among Latino voters, continues to make the race competitive.

As both campaigns make their case to voters, affordability remains a central issue in the district, which has a large farmworker population. Concerns over rising fuel prices amid the war with Iran, along with increasing fertilizer and grocery costs, have become key topics in the race.

RELATED: Senator Bernie Sanders holds rally supporting Prop. 40, CA billionaire tax proposal in SF

Valadao addressed the issue during the campaign.

"The reality is, Sacramento plays just as big a role. And so, for one side to point fingers, this is a temporary thing that's going on in Iran. It will end," Valadao said Wednesday.

"Randy Villegas is campaigning with Bernie Sanders because he is in lockstep with Bernie's far-left agenda," a Valadao campaign spokesperson said in a statement to Action News ahead of Sunday's event. "Government-run Medicare for All and socialist experiments reflect the politics of San Francisco and Vermont, but they'd wreck Central Valley hospitals, jobs, and family budgets. Voters want an independent, bipartisan leader like David Valadao representing them in Congress, not a partisan ideologue."

Election Day is Nov. 3.

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