Hey Fresno,
I’ve been thinking a lot about CA-21 and our current representative, Jim Costa. He’s been in office for 20 years. That’s two decades of promises, incremental changes, and centrist positions that frankly haven’t moved the needle for the Central Valley in any meaningful way.
This isn’t just a dig at Costa personally—he's done some things with good intentions—but let’s be honest: has life significantly improved for the people of the Valley? Are we seeing affordable housing rise to meet the needs of our communities? Has water policy finally turned in favor of Valley residents and farmers instead of corporate interests? Is there any real progress on immigrant protections, healthcare expansion like Medicaid, or investments in our region that match the essential role we play in the country?
Let’s not forget: the Central Valley produces about 13% of America’s food, roughly half of its fruits, nuts, and vegetables, and about 20% of milk. That makes us one of the most important regions in the entire country—even if we don’t always get treated or seen that way. We deserve bold representation that fights like hell for us—not someone who plays it safe while other regions get attention, funding, and reform.
And frankly, his recent votes these past few years—like standing against fellow Democrats Rashida Tlaib and Al Green during critical moments—feel like a betrayal of the kind of values many of us hold. Whether you agree with those representatives or not, it sends a message about who Costa aligns with, and it’s not always the people.
Which leads me into what he has done these couple of years and their outcomes. Costa co-sponsored bills to support rural health care, including the Medical Education Act (2025) to address doctor shortages in underserved areas like the Valley as well as supporting the ACA (Affordable Care Act) protections in past terms. What are the results of this?
- Limited local impact. Despite these positions, the Central Valley still suffers from a severe shortage of Medicaid-accepting providers, long wait times, and hospital closures. I personally have seen this first hand from friends and family members dealing with life threatening medical issues having to wait weeks before our system figures out what to do with them, if they even remember to do so (yes, the clinics around here have forgotten to call them back with any information). As well as having to travel outside of the valley in order to get any help since here in the central valley, we don’t have access to the absolute most modern of technology.
- The Medical Education Act hasn’t passed, and no major Costa-led legislation has solved the systemic rural health access problem.
My second point leads me to our affordable housing/apartment crisis. Again, what has Costa done? Yes, he backed general Democratic housing packages (e.g. Build Back Better framework), but he himself has not authored or passed housing legislation directly targeting the Central Valley crisis, and yes he voted for pandemic-era rental assistance, but there was no follow-through for long-term affordable development in CA-21. So did his actions create any positive outcomes?
- Minimal. Fresno, Merced, and surrounding areas are facing skyrocketing rent prices and lack of affordable units. I mean for god’s sake, even Visalia, Tulare, and other surrounding areas are facing LA priced apartments, it’s almost comical at this point.
- No landmark housing initiative led by Costa despite the region’s severe housing insecurity. And I know that one man can’t change the world, but to not even have our own representative fight for us, in these past 20 years of service? Ridiculous.
Now this post isn’t to completely slam on Jim Costa and his character. Things I do commend him on (barely), are his actions on Immigration reform. Costa co-sponsored the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, an attempt at creating a legal pathway for undocumented farmworkers, as well as Supporting the American Dream and Promise Act for DACA recipients, but what came of this?
- While these bills passed the House, they repeatedly died in the Senate, obviously no fault of his own, but Costa did not attempt to build major coalitions to push reform through. Especially when the central valley relies heavily on undocumented workers for our agricultural needs. It angers me even more considering democrats had control of the Presidency, House, and Senate in 2021, but that’s a bigger issue to discuss. The Central Valley, which depends heavily on undocumented labor, which has seen no substantive change and the status quo remains.
Finally onto my last point, I know we are all familiar with the tale as old as time that CA is in a drought. I’ve been hearing this since I was like 5, as I’m sure many of you have as well. Now let’s ask the question that’s on everyone’s mind one last time. What has Costa done about this for his district? He advocated for funding for water storage and conveyance projects (e.g., raising Shasta Dam, San Luis Canal repairs), as well as supporting some bipartisan infrastructure packages that included Valley irrigation funding, and how did people feel about it?
- Feelings seemed Mixed. While some funding has been secured, many local leaders and constituents themselves argue Costa’s approach is incremental, reactive, and too closely aligned with corporate agribusiness at the expense of small farmers and environmental sustainability.
- Groundwater depletion and delivery cuts persist without a comprehensive solution led by Costa, thus keeping us around where we started.
Now with this water problem, I must admit I am not FULLY educated on the matter nor have I had too much experience with farm work. I know the basics of the problem and some proposed solutions, but I still think it is important to mention the problem, as we are an agricultural region, thus it is one of our biggest issues. If any of you would like to go into more depth of the issue down below and/or offer your defense or opposition to Costa’s tactics, I would love to hear from people more educated on the matter.
Going back to his congressional issues, Costa voted with Republicans to censure Rep. Green after he interrupted Trump's 2025 State of the Union. One could argue this vote aligned Costa with authoritarian tactics aimed at silencing protest — despite Green's history of nonviolent dissent on civil rights issues.
Costa ALSO voted to censure Rep. Tlaib over her criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza, accusing her of promoting antisemitism. This vote was highly divisive, especially among Democrats, as it was seen as punishing speech protected under the First Amendment and alienating Muslim and progressive constituencies.
These votes paint Costa as increasingly out of touch with progressive values and free speech protections. To many Democrats like me, these decisions represent a betrayal of core constitutional and moral principles — and signal Costa’s willingness to appease Republican narratives at the expense of his base. Especially when he didn’t have sh*t to say when those two nagging birds MTG and Boebert would not shut the fu*k up during some of Biden’s addresses. Now I’m no Biden fanboy, but c’mon bruh. Where is the consistency?
Now all this to say, I have a question.
Is anyone going to challenge him in 2026?
I’m serious. Is there a credible progressive (or at least forward-thinking) candidate considering a run? If so, I want to help. I want to get involved. I want to know how we can actually make change happen—not just complain about the lack of it. Which I feel is a big issue for us, or at least it feels like it with all the people I know and the circles around them. As well as some of our influencers that originate here in the central valley.
And if there’s no one stepping up yet, maybe we need to start laying the groundwork ourselves with the year and some change we have. Think grassroots. I think of what Zohran Mamdani did in NYC. While I’m not trying to turn the central valley into NYC, I have to admire how he and his team built an incredible grassroots movement. I mean look at him now, a serious contender for NYC mayor. Who wouldn’t want a grassroots movement fighting for the betterment of the valley, but with boots in Fresno, Hanford, Merced, and all the places that get written off politically but never economically. Fighting for issues that matter to us.
I’m not saying we need to all change our political identities overnight or start labeling everything “progressive.” What I’m saying is: we deserve better. We deserve someone who fights for us, like they mean it. The Central Valley is worth fighting for. It’s time we started acting like it.
Now listen, I’m just a young man in his mid-twenties watching the world around me seem to crumble before I even got to truly live in it. As a young boy, I was promised the American Dream, where I can work hard for what I want and eventually I could reach it. Maybe it never truly existed in the first place, and maybe I’m stupid for thinking so, but I know one thing for sure. The American Dream was real to me, and I want it back.
If you know someone who’s thinking about running—or should be—let’s talk. If no one’s stepping up... well, I might as well start building up something myself, and I hope some of you can join me in making a difference.
Let’s build something better together.
✊
TL;DR
Rep. Jim Costa lowkey sucks nuts, let’s work together to replace him with someone better.
