Former DA Janz Giving Trump Surrogate Nunes a Run for It in the Midterms

BCK FILE--The Central Valley district has always been best known for agriculture but since Donald Trump began his run for office, Devin Nunes (R-CA) who has held the 22nd District Congressional seat since 2003, has been shining a spotlight on the region for his seemingly blind fealty to Trump.

Nunes, who heads the House Intelligence Committee, announced Sunday that he will refuse any further meetings with the Department of Justice unless the DOJ hands over documents connected to an FBI source who had met with Trump campaign aides back in 2016 to discuss possible contacts between campaign officials and Russia. 

The congressional representative who is up for reelection in the midterms, faces competition from Democrat Andrew Janz, a career prosecutor and the Deputy District Attorney for Fresno County. The  son of immigrants. Janz has raised over $1 million in the first quarter. 

Nunes has received two-thirds of votes in all but one of his eight prior congressional elections in the heavily Republican district. The voter reaction to the congressional representatives close alliance and defense of both himself and Trump will be important to watch. 

Nunes stepped down from the House investigation in the 2016 election when he was accused of leaking classified information after telling reporters that US surveillance may have picked up communication with Trump transition staff and that he had met with the source of the intelligence at the White House. 

Janz, who is endorsed by the California Democratic Party, as well as the National and California Teachers Associations, the California Labor Federation, and Board of Equalization member Fiona Ma, has been picking up donations from throughout the state. His campaign is focused on putting country above party, as well as local issues such as securing clean drinking water and water delivery systems for farmers.

(Beth Cone Kramer is a professional writer living in the Los Angeles area. She covers Resistance Watch and other major issues for CityWatch.)

-cw