November Election: Fact-checking attack ads against Duarte and Gray in Congressional District 13
Voters in California’s 13th Congressional District will once again choose between Republican incumbent John Duarte and former Democratic State Assemblyman Adam Gray.
It is a hotly contested race that has big political action committees weighing in.
One of those groups is the Congressional Leadership Fund, which wants a Republican majority in the House of Representatives. The other is the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which wants the opposite.
Both have spent money on political attack ads, but how accurate are they? KCRA reviewed them to Get the Facts.
First, we take a look at an ad targeting Duarte for his voting record on abortion.
Claim: "John Duarte swore he'd protect us. ‘I will vote against any effort to federalize abortion law.’”
Congressman Duarte is a self-described moderate on abortion. He has said he believes women should have access to it in the first trimester, but it is false to say he "swore" to protect abortion rights.
Claim: “But in Washington, he voted to restrict women's reproductive freedom and punish doctors who perform abortions. Duarte broke his promise, siding with the most extreme members in Washington, who want to limit access to birth control, IVF and would pass a national abortion ban, no exceptions.”
This is partly true, but there are some serious caveats.
Duarte did vote for some restrictions, alongside other Republicans with more extreme views on the issue.
For instance, he voted yes on a bill that would have required healthcare providers to preserve the life of an infant in the rare case a baby is born alive during an attempted abortion.
However, it is already illegal to harm a baby that is born alive, so opponents of the bill felt that it was an attempt to intimidate healthcare providers.
Still, it is misleading to say Duarte voted to “punish” them.
Similarly, it is misleading to imply that he agrees with “the most extreme members in Washington” on a national abortion ban just because he voted like them on some bills.
Next, let's look at an ad from Republicans against former Democratic Assemblyman Adam Gray.
Claim: "For the last 20 years, Gray's been serving California's corrupt political machine."
This claim appears to refer to two things. One was in 2015 when Gray was subpoenaed in a corruption trial against his former boss, state Sen. Ronald Calderon. Ultimately, Calderon was sentenced to federal prison after admitting to taking bribes. However, Gray himself was not accused of wrongdoing.
The second example cited in support of this claim is that Gray agreed to pay a fine after he was accused of not properly reporting a campaign contribution during a 2011 fundraiser.
So, does that mean Gray has been "serving the corrupt political machine"? This is a matter of opinion, so we'll leave this one up to you to decide.
Claim: "Gray wants to get gas cars, like this one, off the road."
This is based on comments Gray made in 2022. He said he supports high-speed rail and "getting cars that don't need to be on the road off the road."
He said that we are going to need to run trucks and move food that the country depends on, but that he supports investments in those fleets for clean energy vehicles.
With that context in mind, this claim is true.
For more information about the November election, including key issues and other races on the ballot, check out the KCRA 3 Voter Guide.