Bernie Sanders endorses Randy Villegas, wading into a Democratic fight in a key House battleground

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday endorsed Democrat Randy Villegas, a 31-year-old school board trustee and auto shop owner, in a hotly contested battle in California to take on one of the GOP’s most vulnerable House members

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday endorsed Democrat Randy Villegas, a 31-year-old school board trustee and auto shop owner, in a hotly contested battle in California to take on one of the GOP’s most vulnerable House members.

Villegas and Jasmeet Bains, a doctor and moderate member of the California state Assembly, are both competing in the all-party primary for Republican Rep. David Valadao’s seat. Villegas has centered his campaign around economic populism and is affiliated with the progressive Working Families Party.

Both Democrats are hoping to unseat Valadao, one of the most vulnerable sitting Republican House members who, aside from a 2018 defeat, has for years withstood Democratic challenges in this Democratic-leaning swing district.

“I am proud to endorse Randy Villegas because we need more working-class people in Congress who are not beholden to the corporations and special interests that have rigged our political system in favor of the billionaires,” Sanders said in a statement. “Randy is an educator and small business owner from a working class family who understands the struggles that so many millions of Americans are facing everyday.”

“We must do everything we can to elect new, bold leaders like Randy who will be a champion for working Americans in Congress,” he added.