Randy Villegas
Randy Villegas | |
|---|---|
 Villegas at Vota Palooza in 2024 | |
| Member of the Visalia Unified School District Board of Education Area 6 District | |
| Assumed office December 9, 2021 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1995 (age 30–31) Bakersfield, California, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | Bakersfield College (AA) California State University, Bakersfield (BA) University of California, Santa Cruz (PhD) |
| Alma mater | University of California, Santa Cruz |
| Occupation |
|
Randy Villegas (born c. 1995) is an American political scientist, educator, and politician from Kern County, California. He is a professor of political science at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia and a member of the Visalia Unified School District Board of Education, where he has served since 2021.[1][2] He advanced from the June 2, 2026, top-two primary for California's 22nd congressional district and will face incumbent Republican David Valadao in the November general election.[3]
Early life and education
Villegas was born and raised in Bakersfield, California, the son of Mexican immigrants.[4] His family received Medicaid and food assistance while he was growing up.[5] He attended Bakersfield College, then earned a bachelor's degree in political science and history from California State University, Bakersfield.[6] He received a full fellowship to the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he completed a doctorate in politics.[4][6] He was the first member of his family to earn a college degree.[7]
Before entering politics, Villegas worked as a journalist at Kern Sol News and wrote for the Bakersfield Californian.[2][7]
Career
Villegas teaches political science at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia.[6] In 2025, the American Political Science Association awarded him its Community College Faculty Award for his teaching, mentorship, and voter-registration work with students.[2]
Villegas co-owns a family-run auto shop in Bakersfield, California.[8]
Political office
School board
In December 2021, the Visalia Unified School District Board of Education appointed Villegas to fill a vacancy in Trustee Area 6 by a 4–1 vote.[1] He was elected to the seat in November 2022.[9]
2026 congressional campaign
In April 2025, Villegas announced his candidacy for California's 22nd congressional district in the 2026 midterm elections, challenging incumbent Republican David Valadao.[4] The district, which spans parts of Kern, Kings, and Tulare counties, is approximately 75% Latino and has the highest rate of Medicaid enrollment of any Republican-held congressional district in the country.[10]
Villegas has run on a platform of increasing affordability and reducing prices of groceries and power bills, protecting Social Security, expanding healthcare access to all, fighting for oil and gas workers, and opposition to cuts to Medicaid and federal nutrition programs.[6][4] He has refused corporate PAC donations.[5]
The race attracted national attention as a contest between competing Democratic strategies for winning back voters in working-class districts. CalMatters described the primary as an example of the party's debate over whether to pursue centrist or economically populist approaches.[6] U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders endorsed Villegas in November 2025.[5] Other endorsements include U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,[11] Dolores Huerta,[12] the California Teachers Association, Indivisible, United Auto Workers, the Working Families Party,[5] the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC,[13] and U.S. Representative Ro Khanna.[14]
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee endorsed his primary opponent, Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains, which drew public criticism from the Congressional Progressive Caucus and several Democratic members of Congress.[13][15]
Villegas received outside support from the progressive Working Families Party as well as from the pro-Palestine super PAC American Priorities, which was created to counter the influence of the pro-Israel AIPAC.[16] Some Republican PACs spent in support of Villegas, seeing him as the weaker nominee against Valadao.[16] On the other hand, Bains received outside support from the lobbying group Democratic Majority for Israel and from 314 Action, a group which supports Democrats with STEM backgrounds.[16]
Villegas advanced from the top-two primary held on June 2, 2026, finishing second behind Valadao and ahead of fellow Democrat Jasmeet Bains. He will face Valadao, the incumbent, in the November 3, 2026, general election.[3][17]
Publications
- Kraybill; Mirakazmi; Villegas (2017). "Chapter 8: Tweeting Religion: The Impact of Religious Language and Rhetoric in the 2016 Presidential Election". Unconventional, Partisan and Polarizing Rhetoric. Lexington Books. Search this book on
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Villegas fills vacancy for VUSD board". The Sun-Gazette. December 9, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Randy Villegas Receives the 2025 APSA Community College Faculty Award". American Political Science Association. August 13, 2025. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Browning, Kellen (June 9, 2026). "Sanders-Backed Progressive Advances in California Swing District Against Valadao". The New York Times. Retrieved June 9, 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Huh, Jenny (April 15, 2025). "Meet Kern's 2026 primary candidates: One-on-one interview with CD-22 hopeful Randy Villegas". KGET 17 News. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Smith, Allan (November 17, 2025). "Bernie Sanders endorses Randy Villegas, wading into a Democratic fight in a key House battleground". NBC News. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Moore, Maya C. (February 12, 2026). "California Democrats are split on how to win swing votes". CalMatters. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "From first-gen student to Congressional candidate: Randy Villegas aims to uplift the valley". South Kern Sol. April 21, 2025. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
- ↑ Lanard, Noah. "A Bernie-backed community college professor fights for the soul of the Democratic Party". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
- ↑ "Randy Villegas declares candidacy and pulls paper to run for Visalia Unified School Board Area 6". Valley Voice. July 29, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
- ↑ "Valadao's Medicaid vote could cost him his California seat". CalMatters. February 2, 2026. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Cite at line 60: attempt to call field '_citation' (a nil value).
- ↑ "Labor leader Huerta endorses Democrat Randy Villegas in 22nd congressional District race". The Bakersfield Californian. 2025. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "House progressives knock DCCC for picking sides in contested primary". The Hill. May 2026. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
- ↑ "Rep. Ro Khanna endorses Randy Villegas for CA's 22nd Congressional District race". Bakersfield Now. September 2025. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
- ↑ Johnson, Jake (2026). "Dem Establishment Accused of 'Putting Thumb on the Scale' Against Progressive Candidate". Common Dreams. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Dayen, David (June 2, 2026). "Your June 2 Primary Election Guide". The American Prospect. Retrieved June 10, 2026.
- ↑ "TITLE FROM POLITICO". Politico. June 9, 2026. Retrieved June 9, 2026.
External links
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- 1990s births
- 21st-century American politicians
- American politicians of Mexican descent
- Bakersfield College alumni
- California Democrats
- California State University, Bakersfield, alumni
- Candidates in the 2026 United States elections
- College of the Sequoias faculty
- Hispanic and Latino American politicians
- People from Bakersfield, California
- School board members in California
- University of California, Santa Cruz alumni
