Best way to get acquainted with congressional candidates: Modesto Bee debates
As promised, Modesto Bee debates with congressional candidates can now be viewed in the opinion section at modbee.com.
Our editorial board focused on two congressional races covering almost all of Stanislaus County: the Fifth and 13th districts in the U.S. House of Representatives. Both have new boundaries and feature multiple candidates, and a total of nine participated in these remotely recorded endorsement interviews.
For the record, five belong to the Republican Party, three are Democrats and one is independent. In each race, the two candidates with the most votes in the June 7 top-two “jungle primary” will advance to the November ballot, regardless of party.
Fifth District candidates in our debate are Republicans Nathan Magsig and David Main, Democrat Mike Barkley and independent Steven Wosniak; two other Republicans, Tom McClintock and Kelsten Obert, did not participate. The winner will represent much of Stanislaus County east of Highway 99, including most of Modesto, plus Tuolumne County and parts of six other mountain counties to the east.
The 13th District includes Stanislaus areas west of Highway 99 and all of Ceres, plus Merced County and parts of Madera and Fresno counties. All five candidates participated: Democrats Phil Arballo and Adam Gray, and Republicans John Duarte, David Giglio and Diego Martinez.
Politically, voter registration in the Fifth tilts sharply to the right, while the 13th leans a little left.
We tried something interesting in the 13th District debate by joining with The Fresno Bee and The Merced Sun-Star, all part of the McClatchy Newspapers company, because that district stretches through territory served by all three publications. Joining us in that discussion was Joe Kieta, who was editor here in Modesto, you might remember, before taking over the top job in Fresno in early 2018.
You ought to find these discussions informative, and sometimes entertaining. We like to think they help voters get to know candidates by bringing them into your home, so to speak — hearing them talk about important matters in their own words and voices.
For example, all nine congressional candidates talk about wildfires, river water, climate change and extremist groups. They also say whether the 2020 presidential election was legitimate, and most make predictions on which party will enjoy the House majority come November.
At modbee.com/opinion/, you can also view our debates featuring:
That’s a grand total of 20 candidates participating in six debates.
If you’d rather skip the forums and go straight to The Bee’s recommendations, you’ll have to wait a bit. We will publish those closer to the time elections officials put your ballots in the mail, around May 9.
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 4:00 AM.
