$22 Million Ad Campaign Targets Two Central Valley Congressional Districts

Conservative advocacy group American Action Network launched a $22 million ad campaign Thursday targeting dozens of Congressional races nationwide. Two Central Valley districts fall within the campaign footprint: District 22, represented by Rep. David Valadao (R–Hanford), and District 13, represented by Rep. Adam Gray (D–Merced).

The campaign runs through September 3. It includes broadcast, digital, and mail advertising.

American Action Network frames the campaign around what it calls the “Working Families Tax Cut,” highlighting House Republican votes to cut taxes on tips and overtime and to lower taxes for Social Security recipients.

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“Conservatives put working families first by delivering historic tax relief,” AAN President Chris Winkelman said in a statement. “Meanwhile, far-left lawmakers are obsessed with radical ideas – like raising your taxes and making you pay for sex-change surgeries for kids. AAN is going to keep calling out these policies for what they are: bad for your wallet and wrong for American families.”

American Action Network has now spent $62 million in a single Congress, the highest total in the organization’s history.

The Breakdown

• $22 million ad buy targeting multiple Congressional races, including CA-13 and CA-22
• Campaign messaging centers on tax cuts passed by House Republicans
• Advertising runs through September 3 across broadcast, digital, and mail formats
• Total AAN spending this Congress: $62 million, a record for the group

What This Means for You

Voters in Districts 13 and 22 will encounter this messaging between now and September 3. The ad campaign does not disclose its per-district spending breakdown — you cannot determine from this material how much of the $22 million targets each race, or whether the spending favors one district over another.

What to Watch

The stated messaging — tax cuts on tips, overtime, and Social Security — leaves unstated what those cuts cost in federal revenue, what services or programs absorbed the reduction, and whether the tax structure change benefits all income brackets equally or concentrates relief at specific income levels. A $22 million outside spending effort also raises the question of whose interests the American Action Network represents beyond the “working families” frame in its public statement — the material does not identify the group’s funding sources or major donors. If this campaign intends to shape how voters see these two races, a voter should ask what the group gains from that outcome and whether the framing matches the full legislative record.