SACRAMENTO — Rep. John Duarte (R-Modesto) and former Assemblymember Adam Gray (D-Merced) made their last pitch to voters in the 13th Congressional District Thursday night during a one-hour televised debate on Sacramento’s KTXL Fox 40.

The candidates took to the airwaves— five days before Election Day — after having met six days prior for the Debate at the State (Theatre) in Modesto on Oct. 25.

With no audience members to interrupt, and with response times cut in half to one minute (30 seconds for rebuttals), the TV debate was a smoother, less raucous encounter.

Duarte defeated Gray for the seat in 2022 by a mere 564 votes, the second-closest Congressional race in the U.S. It is again projected to be one of the nation’s closest races, with control of the House perhaps riding on it.

The 13th stretches from Lathrop in the north to Coalinga in the south, and includes portions of Turlock.

As he did in Modesto, Gray continued to hammer the incumbent for being a member of history’s most unproductive Congress, while Duarte stressed that he has been rated the most moderate member of the Republican caucus by conservative agency Heritage Action.

The debate was moderated by Fox 40 anchor Nikki Laurenzo and Brian Dorman, an anchor for Fresno's CBS affiliate KGPE 47. 

The first question of the night was directed toward Duarte, looking relaxed in beige slacks and a checked button-up shirt. The question focused on immigration. Statistics from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office show that 50 percent of all California farmworkers are undocumented. Duarte was asked if he supported amnesty for all those residing in the U.S. illegally.

“I would support amnesty for the families that have been living here, working here for more than five years, and living in the shadows, but otherwise legal,” said Duarte, who recently introduced legislation to address the immigration issue. “Not breaking the law and working here in America and keeping our economy going.”

Duarte added that he’d like to fix the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Act, but stressed that border security is a first step.

Laurenzo followed up by asking Duarte if he supports former President Trump’s proposal of mass deportations.

“I want to protect those families that have been here, working, living and raising a family, and become important parts of our economy and communities,” Duarte said. “But we’ve had millions of people come in that we don’t know anything about. I don’t think they all need to stay here.”

Gray, wearing a navy-blue suit with a light blue paisley tie, was then presented polling data that showed 41 percent of Americans think mass deportations would improve the immigration issue, 36 percent said mass deportations would make it worse, and 22 percent believed there would be no change. He was asked if President Biden was correct to reverse Trump-era executive orders regarding immigration.

Gray sidestepped Biden’s role, choosing instead to focus on Congress’ failure to pass a bipartisan immigration bill earlier this year.

“It’s because of the extreme gridlock and partisanship that you’re not seeing any progress,” said Gray. “You saw just in this past term, when Congressman John Duarte was in Washington, an opportunity to make progress on border security, and make sure that our officers at the border have the tools and the resources to tackle the job.”

Gray needed just 45 seconds on Thursday to link Duarte and Trump — something he did not do during the Modesto debate.

“Because of politics and because of Trump at the top of the ticket creating division, insulting immigrants, scaring people by calling them rapists and criminals, that opportunity for progress got blown up.”

Other topics of discussion included:

Water

Duarte: “We can have abundant water for farms, we can have abundant water for faucets. One of my biggest goals is to get treated surface water reliably delivered to Westside communities … in a way that those cities can get off the groundwater and have clean, fresh, treated surface water in their taps.”

Gray: “When I was in the state legislature, we did pass a bipartisan water bond … that’s actually seeing the first reservoir being built in California in half a century. We did work to actually get floodplain restoration projects up and ready to recharge our groundwater. Real work and real progress that requires comprise.”

Housing

Gray: “We’re short by about 4 million homes in the supply-and-demand curve here in California. We build about 120,000 homes a year. We need the carpenters, the plumbers, the electricians, the job-training program to actually get the workforce to have a major renaissance and explosion of building. And we also have to streamline building: make it more affordable; make communities more open to building. … And we need the government to step up and really spend some money on infrastructure to make these developments more affordable. That’s something the federal government has been absent in doing.”

Duarte: “We see the entry-level homes costing more per square foot than the fancy homes. … We can see the things that drive home prices. We can see a lack of water deliveries. If a community doesn’t have water, it can’t permit new homes. If we’re going to try and put solar panels on every home as a state requirement, if we’re going to put fire sprinklers in every home as a state requirement, if we’re going to put an air-board fee of tens of thousands of dollars as a state requirement, that is going to increase the cost of new homes.”

Reproductive rights

Both were asked if they’d support federal legislation to codify access to abortion.

Duarte: “I would look at it. That’s a hypothetical, so I can’t answer because I can’t see the bill. But I am pro-choice and I do fundamentally believe a woman’s choice to have an abortion is between her and her doctor.”

The moderator pushed further, saying, “So you’re not a yes or a no on codifying Roe v. Wade.”

“No, not until I see an actual bill come to the floor in Congress,” Duarte said.

Gray: “I worked to make sure that we have constitutional amendments and protections here in California for reproductive health care. And Congress ought to take the opportunity protect our rights at the federal level. I think it’s insulting to voters in this district that John wants to portray himself as pro-choice, but won’t vote to codify Roe v. Wade.”

Gray then turned directly to Duarte and said, “You know, John, pro-choice means a woman gets to choose her own reproductive health care, regardless of what state she lives in or where she’s at when she has a miscarriage or a medical emergency.”

Gray was then asked abortion limits.

“As John said, reproductive healthcare should be between a woman and her doctor,” Gray said. “And Roe v. Wade treated it that way for most of our lifetimes. And we need to return to the law of the land that we were all living under.” 

Laurenzo pressed Gray for a firm answer on limits.

“Again … a doctor and a woman will make the reproductive healthcare choices that are medically appropriate and that’s where we need to leave it.”

High-speed rail

Gray: “… What you see in Congress is people holding investigations about political nonsense, instead of actually doing the work. High-speed rail has provided 14,200 families in the San Joaquin Valley with really good jobs. … We don’t want to walk away from that, but at the same time we need these projects to be on time and on budget.”

Duarte: “The high-speed rail project has taken infrastructure dollars that we could be spending on so many priorities. … I’d love to put 14,200 people to work throughout the Valley building things that we actually need… I would kill the high-speed rail project immediately.”

Electric vehicles

Both candidates were asked if they support the government mandate that consumers must purchase electric vehicles.

Gray: “I think what the government should do is actually invest in the infrastructure we would need if and when people choose to move to an electric vehicle. Some of that is happening. A lot more needs to happen. We saw an infrastructure act passed at the federal level, but that was before this Congress.”

Duarte: “I walk the neighborhoods here in the Valley and … I see lots of cars out front because many of these working families are living two adult couples, three adult couples to a single-family home, which is fine. It’s the situation they’re in. But there are gas cars out front. None of the working families in this Valley are choosing electric vehicles.”

Middle East

Duarte: “The first thing we’ve done in Congress already is we had a bipartisan package that I voted for to send aid to our friends around the world — Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel — to let their soldiers have access to the weapons and the resources they need to be effective on the ground in those situations. I’m very proud of that vote. It was a controversial vote in Congress. ... But it was the right thing to do.”

Gray: “The most dangerous issue we’ve seen as it relates to our position on the international stage is the fact that people can’t seem to count on America anymore to keep its word. Administration to administration, Republican control, Democratic control, we can’t keep our commitments, whether it’s climate accord, whether it’s our commitment to NATO, whether it’s our commitment to our ally Israel.”

Political attack ads

Gray was asked about a Duarte campaign ad that alleges he missed 157 votes while in the Assembly.

“I would ask voters to think about this,” said Gray. “Do you think I passed a bipartisan infrastructure act, amended the California constitution to protect a woman’s reproductive rights, passed a bipartisan water bond, secured a medical school program at UC Merced, a job-training facility in Modesto, clean drinking water in Dos Palos, a fire station in Los Banos … by not showing up to work? Of course that’s nonsense.”

Duarte was asked about an ad claiming that he opposed lowering drug prices and voted in favor of cutting Social Security.

“These are silly. Social Security and Medicare and drug access are so important here, especially in the Central Valley with the population of working families that we’ve got. These working families need access to Social Security benefits. I get people coming to me at festivals and parades and when I’m out campaigning telling me, ‘How can we get more affordable senior housing? How can I make ends meet with my Social Security?’ There has been no vote to cut Social Security… I’m going to protect Social Security, and I’m going to protect Medicare.”

A few moments, later, Gray used part of his time when asked about gas prices to push back against Duarte’s assertion that he did not vote to cut Social Security.

Gas prices

Duarte: “Gas prices are going up in California because we have a California government, including Gavin Newsom, our governor, and the statehouse, who are passing more and more restrictions on refineries and domestic oil production here in California; that’s limiting our ability to produce gas and limiting our ability to bring in gas from other states that doesn’t meet the special California standards. So, if we stop doing those things we could actually see our gas prices return to what we’re seeing around the country: at least $1 a gallon cheaper. And that’s a big deal for working families here in the Central Valley.”

Gray was asked he continues to support SB 1, which raised California’s gas tax while he was in the Assembly.

“Yeah, and let’s call it what it was: The SB 1 California Infrastructure Act, that is actually out there repairing our roads and making sure that Californians can get about have good roads and good transportation infrastructure,” said Gray. “Those are important votes. That’s the job of governing, to step up and actually make sure we can pay for the services and infrastructure that we need.”

Presidential election

Both candidates said they fully endorse their party’s candidate at the top of the ticket.