On the Issues: 10th District: Rep. Jeff Denham and Josh Harder

By Maya Sweedler

Oct. 25, 2018 3 AM PT

Democrats barely outnumber Republicans in the 10th Congressional District in the Central Valley, but higher Republican turnout has kept it in GOP hands.

But after Hillary Clinton eked out a victory here in 2016, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee began targeting the district voters in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.

Democrats are fronting first-time candidate Josh Harder to face incumbent Rep. Jeff Denham of Turlock.

Denham has repeatedly attacked Harder, a Stanford University graduate and former vice president of a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, as a “Bay area” candidate who won’t represent the Central Valley.

Harder, who was born and raised in the district, has countered by contending that Denham abandons positions he expresses to constituents and just votes along party lines.

Denham previously represented the area in the state Senate, served in the Air Force and founded a company specializing in plastic packaging used in agriculture.

Harder has a five-point lead among likely voters, according to a recent poll from UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies.

District voters say they most care about healthcare, immigration, gun laws and the economy, according to the IGS poll.