Four Candidates Battle Over Jobs, Immigration, and Housing in Valley Congressional Race

The Central Valley’s agricultural heartland is about to choose who represents Congressional District 13, and the divide between candidates couldn’t be starker. On June 2, voters across all of Merced County and portions of San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Fresno, and Madera counties—stretching from Stockton to Modesto—will cast ballots in a primary that reveals fundamental disagreements about immigration, housing, and economic survival.

Incumbent Democrat Adam Gray is fighting for his second term. He brings real legislative experience: he sits on the House Agriculture Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee, positioning him as a voice for the region’s farming economy. But his challengers are pushing hard on different fronts. Republican entrepreneur Vin Kruttiventi is framing the race around economic uplift and job creation, while Democrat Daniel Garibay Rodriguez—a behavioral health services manager with roots in youth advocacy—is centering housing justice, infrastructure, and immigrant rights. (Republican Kevin Lincoln, the former mayor of Stockton, didn’t participate in interviews with KCRA 3 ahead of the election.)

The sharpest contrasts emerge on immigration. Kruttiventi stands firmly with ICE and the Trump administration, emphasizing that“if we start with the illegals that are committing crimes”and enforce border security, the system can eventually address the rest. Gray takes the middle road: he’s opposed ICE operations as currently conducted and co-sponsored both the Dignity Act and the Farmworker Modernization Act, but he’s also voted for stronger border security dozens of times. Rodriguez goes further, calling for ICE abolition outright and demanding“dignity, due process, family unity, and a pathway to citizenship”—a stark reminder that immigrant communities form the foundation of Valley agriculture.

Housing and jobs are equally divisive. Gray and Kruttiventi both emphasize reducing regulation and red tape to increase building supply and bring energy projects online faster. Gray touts bills like the Permit Reform Speed Act; Kruttiventi focuses on“economic upliftment for the entire Valley”through job creation so young people can afford homes. Rodriguez reframes the issue entirely: affordability isn’t just about supply—it’s about justice. Clean water, clean air, good jobs, transportation, and opposition to criminalizing homelessness are all part of what he calls“housing justice and environmental justice.”

For farm workers specifically, the race reveals different priorities. Gray and Rodriguez both support safer working conditions, better wages, and protections for an immigrant workforce facing tariffs and instability. Kruttiventi emphasizes tariff relief and workforce modernization but with less focus on worker protections. The stakes are real: these candidates will shape policy on the very industries and communities that define the Valley’s economy.

With primary day just around the corner, the region’s voters face a genuine choice about what kind of representation they want. Is it about cutting regulations and boosting growth? Protecting immigrant workers and communities? Finding a middle path? The answer will ripple through Central Valley politics for years to come.