Fundraising will be key to tossup congressional races in California's Central Valley. Who has the edge so far?

Campaign finances are far from the only factor in determining how an election will play out. However, cash on hand lets candidates spend more on advertisements, events and other supplies necessary to a campaign. It’s also good to reserve money in case of unexpected issues down the line.

Campaign funds come from a wide range of sources not specified in the candidate’s official report, from individual donors, political action committees, other lawmakers and joint-fundraising groups.

What happened in California’s primary election?

Salas, 47, already had to spend about double what Valadao, 47, did in the first three months of 2024 because of the highly anticipated primary where two Democrats and two Republicans were on the ballot.

National Democrats, concerned that low turnout and divided left-leaning voters would lock Salas out of this competitive November race, threw their weight and fundraising behind him to overcome in-party challenger State Sen. Melissa Hurtado, D-Bakersfield.

Valadao too faced an in-party challenge from Chris Mathys, an ardent Trump supporter, in the 22nd. But that challenge was expected to be less competitive, experts said before the primary.

Salas spent nearly $866,000 while Valadao used almost $474,000 in the first three months of the year.

Duarte, 57, and Gray, 46, were the only two candidates in the March primary for California’s 13th. Gray spent a little more than $246,000; Duarte, almost $184,000.

The races in these districts were highly competitive in 2022 too.

Salas came within 3 percentage points of Valadao in 2022. At around this time that year, he had about half of the cash on hand that he has now.

Duarte, a farmer and businessman, beat Gray by fewer than 600 votes in November 2022 — the second-closest House race in the nation that year.

Gray served the area around his hometown in the Assembly for a decade.

Salas too was in the Assembly for his hometown area for a decade. Valadao, minus one term where he lost his seat to a Democratic opponent, has represented the area around his hometown in Congress since 2013.

_____