Family physician Dr. Jasmeet Bains announced her campaign for Congress from California’s 22nd District, July 16, 2025, pledging to bring new leadership if she wins in the 2026 general elections. She accuses Washington D.C.​ of often ignoring the Central Valley.

“I’m a doctor, not a career politician — and I’ve spent my life on the frontlines, listening to Valley families and fighting for their health, their safety, and their future,” Bains said in a press release declaring her candidacy. “I’m running for Congress because we deserve better than broken promises and backroom deals, and our communities are tired of getting left behind. We deserve a representative who will actually show up, and stand up, for the Valley.”

Dr. Bains is a family and addiction doctor who serves as the Central Valley’s Chief Medical Officer for the California Medical Assistance team, which organizes emergency health services across the state.

Raised in Delano, the daughter of immigrants, and the first in her family to become a doctor, Dr. Bains represents the Kern County area in the State Assembly.

She was elected to the State Assembly in 2022 with strong bipartisan support. She is an advocate for underserved communities and rural healthcare, as well as an experienced physician in the field of addiction and the fentanyl crisis.

To date three candidates are in the running for the House seat in the Nov. 3, 2026 election. The incumbent is Republican Rep. David Valadao, who, she says has voted for gutting Medi-Cal, slashing food assistance, and backing a budget that she says would devastate working families in the Central Valley. Valadao has been in Congress from 2013 through 2019, and then 2021 to the present. The two Democrats on the ballot so far are Rudy Salas and Randy Villegas.

The Cook Political Report and Larry J. Sabato’s Crystal Ball both rate District 22 and leaning Republican. Valadao won the 2024 elections with a 7 percent lead over his Democratic opponent Rudy Salas.

CA-22 includes Bakersfield, Delano, Hanford, and communities across Kern, Kings, and Tulare Counties — one of the most diverse regions in California.

“For too long, politicians in both parties have treated the Central Valley like an afterthought,” Dr. Bains says, “I’m running to change that — because this district is my home, and I’ll never stop fighting for it.”

Dr. Bains is a two-term California State Assembly member who represents District 35. She is a graduate of Illinois Institute of Technology in biology, and earned her medical degree from the American University of Antigua.

Dr. Bains completed a primary care psychiatry fellowship at the University of California-Irvine in 2019.

Her career experience includes working as a physician at Clinica Sierra Vista in Bakersfield and Omni Family Health and as a medical director of Bakersfield Recovery Services, her biography on the campaign website, dr.jasmeetbains.com says.

Bains volunteered with the California Academy of Family Physicians and the California Medical Association. She was the chair of the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission for the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development and a volunteer physician for the Central Valley Unit Medical Team for the State of California’s Emergency Medical Services Authority.

In the State Assembly, she is credited with securing $20 million to fight fentanyl addiction and drug trafficking, and led an effort to build a University of California medical school in Kern County.

She was named Legislator of the Year by CalPACE, the Alzheimer’s Association, and Crime Victims United; honored by the American Sikh Council for breaking barriers; and recognized as Physician of the Year by the Kern County Black Chamber of Commerce.

(Used under special arrangement with NIT)

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