Adam Channing Gray (born September 23, 1977) is an American politician who is a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from after defeating Republican incumbent John Duarte in the 2024 election. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, he previously served in the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

and represented the 21st Assembly district, encompassing all of Merced County and portions of

Stanislaus County Stanislaus County ( ; ) is a county located in the San Joaquin Valley of the U.S. state of California. As of 2023, its estimated population is 564,404. The county seat is Modesto. Stanislaus County makes up the Modesto metropolitan statistic ...

. He was a candidate in the

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

election for

California's 13th congressional district California's 13th congressional district is a California's congressional districts, congressional district in the U.S. state of California. Adam Gray, a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, has represented this district since January 20 ...

, narrowly losing in the general election to Duarte.

Early life and education

Adam Channing Gray was born on September 23, 1977 in

Merced, California Merced (; Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on Apri ...

. He grew up working in his family's dairy supply and feed store. Gray graduated from Golden Valley High School in Merced and then attended

Merced College Merced College is a public community college in Merced, California. History In 1961, the Merced High and Le Grand High School Districts petitioned the State Board of Education for permission to set an election to approve the establishment of ...

before earning his bachelor's degree in political science from the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

Early career

Gray worked in the district office of Assembly member Dennis Cardoza. He was also a staffer for lawmakers

Herb Wesson Herman J. "Herb" Wesson Jr. (born November 11, 1951) is an American politician who served as a councilmember representing the 10th District for three terms between July 1, 2005 and December 14, 2020, and again on an appointed basis from March 2 ...

, Fabian Nunez, and Jerome Horton. Gray was also a member of the staff of state Senator Ron Calderon. In July 2013, Gray testified in the federal investigation involving corruption charges against Calderon.

California State Assembly

Gray was elected to the

in November 2012, receiving 58.2% of the vote. In the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

primary election, Gray received 95.3% of the vote and was reelected in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

with 66.8% of the vote and again in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

with 71.3% of the vote. In

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, he received 59.6% of the vote. He was on the Committee for Accountability and Administrative Review, the Agriculture Committee, the Revenue and Taxation Committee and the Select Committee on Health Care Access in Rural Communities. Gray was also a member of the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management. He was chairman of the Governmental Organization Committee, but was stripped of his chairmanship in December 2020 due to a dispute over water rights. In July 2014, Gray supported Merced and Stanislaus counties as a potential site for

Tesla Motors Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it designs, manufactures and sells battery electric vehicles (BEVs), stationary battery energy storage devices from hom ...

' multibillion-dollar "Giga-Factory".

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2022

On January 18, 2022, Gray announced that he would be a candidate for

in the 2022 election for the

. He advanced from the June 2022 primary and faced Republican pistachio farmer John Duarte in the November 2022 general election. He conceded the race on December 3, 2022, shortly after the race was called by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

. It was one of the last U.S. House races in the country to be decided; Gray lost by only 564 votes.

2024

In August 2023, Gray announced his candidacy against Duarte again in the 2024 election. Following weeks of counting, Gray eventually took the lead over Duarte on November 26, 2024, by a margin of 182 votes, with the race being called on December 4. It was the last congressional race to be called in the 2024 election.

Tenure

In 2025, Gray was one of 46 House Democrats who joined all Republicans to vote for the Laken Riley Act.

Committee assignments

For the 119th Congress: * Committee on Agriculture ** Subcommittee Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development ** Subcommittee Forestry and Horticulture ** Subcommittee Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry (Vice Ranking Member) * Committee on Natural Resources ** Subcommittee Oversight and Investigations ** Subcommittee Water, Wildlife and Fisheries

Caucus memberships

Gray's caucus memberships include: *

Blue Dog Coalition The Blue Dog Coalition, commonly known as the Blue Dogs or Blue Dog Democrats, is a Congressional caucus, caucus of Political moderate, moderate members from the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the United States House of ...

New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a caucus in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democrats, primarily liberals and centrists, who take a pro-business stance and a liberal-to-moderate approach to fiscal matte ...

Electoral history

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

2024

References

External links

Adam Gray for Congress
campaign website , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Adam 1977 births 21st-century members of the California State Legislature 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly Living people People from Merced, California University of California, Santa Barbara alumni