The 16th congressional district in California will be a contest between democratic incumbent Jim Costa and Republican challenger Brian Whelan.
This District covers parts of Fresno County, Kings County and Kern County.
The amount of agriculture in the district makes the issue of water, a major talking point for both candidates.
The issue of the economy is also mentioned by both candidates on their respective websites.
Both candidates are Fresno County born and raised and have pledged to bring more jobs to the area. Their websites both state that they are each third-generation farmers. They both focus their attentions to valley farmers.
The difference between candidates goes deeper than their political parties. Costa has been a member of the U.S. Congress since 2004. Before his time serving in congress, Costa served in the California State Legislature for 24 years.
Whelan comes from a background in law and his website states “I am not a career politician, but a citizen who has reached a point that I feel compelled to do something to fix what is broken.”
Whelan attended school at the University of California Berkley and also He attended the law university of Rutgers.
According to the website opensecrets.org, a campaign contribution website, Costas list of contributors include the International Association of Firefighters, American Ironworkers Union and Wal-Mart.
While Whelan counts on financial support from many valley farmers and ranchers such as California Pistachios Inc, San Joaquin Figs and Klepper Ag Harvesting.
Costa and Whelan were the top two vote getters in the June 5 primary which made them the candidates for the general election. Costa took 42.7 percent of the vote while Whelan received 25.3 percent of votes.
The race for California’s 22nd district will be between Republican Devin Nunes, and Otto Lee, the Democratic challenger.
Nunes is currently the representative for the 21st but after a change to the district in 2011 he will be running for the seat in the 22nd district. The current representative for the 22nd is Republican Kevin McCarthy, who ran unopposed in the 2010 election.
The district covers most of Fresno County east of the city of Fresno including small towns such as Visalia, Tulare and Clovis.
The 39-year-old Nunes has been in congress since 2002, and comes from a background of a Community College Center trustee. 45-year-old Lee comes from a military background as a Commander in the navy reserves.
On their websites both candidates make mention of the importance of veterans benefits, and transportation issues that affect the Central Valley.
Nunes’ websites states “Nunes introduced H.R. 99, which designated State Route 99 as a congressional High Priority Corridor. The bill also provided federal authorization for Highway 99 to become part of the Interstate Highway System.”
On his website Lee speaks of the High Speed Rail Project and the jobs that come with it. Lee also makes mention of his support for the DREAM Act and how he believes a reform for immigration is needed.
Recently, the race has been in stories in the Fresno Bee that state that Nunes has repeatedly refused to debate Lee.
Nunes counts on contributions from companies such as; AT&T, Bank Of America and Anheuser Busch and Koch Industries.
Lees’ list of contributors includes many unions such as the Ironworkers Union, Plumbers and Pipefitters Union and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
In the past this district has been dominated by the republican vote, and the primary results on June 5 were no different with Nunes Taking 70.6 percent of the vote and Lee getting 29.4 percent of the vote.
Both of these races will focus on agricultural issues because of the importance that the agricultural community has to the region.
