The Candidates
John Duarte (CA-13)
Republican Rep. John Duarte is running for re-election in California’s 13th Congressional District. Rep. Duarte narrowly won in the 2022 elections with a 0.4% margin in a heavily Latino district that makes up 65.4% of its population and was one of just two Republicans that voted against H.R. 2, also known as Child Deportation Act. Despite the fact that he was against the bill for not having protections for Deferred Actions of Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, and also for including a “devastating” E-Verify requirement, Rep. Duarte eventually still fell in line behind Trump and MAGA and endorsed Rep. Jim Jordan (OH-04) for Speaker of the House. Jordan is an anti-immigrant zealot and known great replacement conspiracy theory supporter, and is a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, which ousted previous speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The GOP have supported ripping apart American families and deporting Dreamers. Will @RepDuarteCA13 stand with the 580,000 DACA recipients who call the U.S. home? https://showmeyourfriends.org
More Information
- Duarte joined GOP House extremists in giving thumbs-up to racist resolutions: In June 2023, Rep. Duarte joined his extremist colleagues in approving two baseless but dangerous resolutions advancing the racist conspiracy theories and paranoia targeted at immigration and immigrants. One resolution pushed bigoted falsehoods about migrants supposedly posing a threat to communities. The second resolution, from Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), introduced baseless impeachment articles against President Biden. One glance at the resolution showed this effort was instead about advancing the party’s embrace of deadly, white supremacist “invasion” rhetoric. This dangerous and bigoted rhetoric would again come to play during the sham impeachment effort against DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
- Duarte voted to make a great replacement theory promoter the new House Speaker: Last fall, Rep. Duarte was one of 220 House Republicans to unanimously vote to make Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana the new Speaker. Johnson, America’s Voice Executive Director Vanessa Cárdenas previously noted, “has gone farther than most of his Republican colleagues in elevating alarmist and dangerous rhetoric.” Rep. Duarte had initially voted for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), a key amplifier of the white nationalist “great replacement” conspiracy theory and completely unworkable and cruel demands, including the Child Deportation Act. But after that vote failed, Rep. Duarte then voted for someone even more extreme, cementing conspiratorial rhetoric “at the highest levels of power,” as observer Greg Sargent noted.
- Duarte voted for impeachment effort driven by white nationalist and antisemitic conspiracies: In one of the most egregious votes in recent Congressional history, Rep. Duarte supported the sham impeachment effort against DHS Secretary Mayorkas. Extreme members of the House repeatedly peddled white nationalist “invasion” rhetoric and antisemitic replacement conspiracy theory as part of their effort against Mayorkas, who is a Jewish Cuban-American refugee. “You don’t have to be a Holocaust survivor like me to be concerned,” wrote Abraham Foxman, former National Director of the Anti-Defamation League. “The murderer who shot at a synagogue in Poway, CA claimed that Jews were responsible for the genocide of ‘white Europeans.’ Mayorkas has publicly warned against the growth of conspiracy and hate fueled extremist violence.” But despite warnings from Jewish organizations, constitutional scholars, and former GOP officials, Rep. Duarte chose party over country and continued normalizing dangerous rhetoric putting a target on the backs of communities.
- Duarte remained silent as Trump echoed Hitler with vile “poisoning the blood” remarks: Rep. Duarte has refused to condemn former President Trump for his despicable claims that immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of America. This incendiary language is virtually indistinguishable from Adolf Hitler’s rhetoric, but when given the chance to distance himself or disavow this horrific language, Trump instead doubled down. Republicans and their right-wing allies have also been engaged in a campaign spreading nativist conspiracies in order to justify subverting democracy amongst supporters, socializing the idea that any election result they do not like can be blamed on this conspiracy of fraudulent immigrant voters. Yet Rep. Duarte has remained silent as Trump has echoed the language of dictators, and as his extreme colleagues have used immigrants to sow doubt and distrust in our electoral process.
- Duarte’s friends prioritized the passage of dehumanizing legislation over improving the lives of working families: While Rep. Duarte’s colleagues were working to pass dehumanizing legislation targeting vulnerable families and children, such as the Child Deportation Act, they’ve done vanishing little while in the majority to improve the daily lives of working families. An ABC News analysis found that the 118th Congress, which saw Republicans in control of the House following the 2022 midterms, to be the least productive in U.S. history. Criticism even came from within the party, when Rep. Chip Roy, one of the most far-right members of the GOP caucus, questioned how Republicans can claim to stand for something, “and then do nothing about it.” But instead of trying to deliver solutions for working Americans, House Republicans prioritized anti-immigrant legislation and a sham impeachment driven by conspiracy theories.
Rep. Duarte has also remained silent as leaders within the GOP have called for “shooting” migrant families at the southern border, and as Speaker Johnson has vowed to not take up any legislation that would constructively address immigration and the border as long as a Democrat is in the White House. Rep. Duarte’s friends are bullies and extremists who demonize our communities and have spent their time in the majority pushing dangerous conspiracies that threaten our public safety and our democracy. Rep. Duarte’s friends show us exactly who they are.
