17 News is your local election headquarters in Bakersfield.
Congressman Kevin McCarthy will have company on the GOP side
of the ballot next March if he decides to seek
reelection in 2024.
David Giglio of Clovis is now eyeing McCarthy's seat in
the House of Representatives.
17's Jenny Ha joining us in studio with more on
this candidate.
Who says McCarthy has failed Americans.
Jenny.
David Giglio, who himself says he was a political nobody,
is now in the spotlight as a MAGA Republican.
Back in the 2022 primary,
he lost a fellow GOP candidate and now Representative John
Duarte of Modesto.
And Kevin McCarthy to me represents everything that's wrong with
policies.
Me, David Giglio, the 35 year old Republican challenger to
Kevin McCarthy.
Giglio says he's about getting things done for the American
people,
which falls under his being a,
quote UN quote, America First Republican is calling you a
MAGA Republican.
Accurate. I will wear that label,
but I don't think it's a negative thing.
I also think a bag of Republican is kind of
the same thing as an America First Republican.
You know, to me, Make America great Again means all
the things I just talked about and I think that's
what President Trump was talking about.
All the things he talked about,
meaning setting term limits for politicians.
So people like McCarthy, who's been in Congress since 2006,
can't overstay their welcome. This an area he says he's
open to bipartisanship,
bond and investing in infrastructure,
securing the border and solving the water crisis.
To Giglio, Kevin McCarthy is the poster child of inaction.
He made a ton of promises because he he spent
his whole life wanting to get that gavel and he
was willing to say and do whatever he needed to
do to get his hands on it.
But he didn't actually intend on delivering those things.
He calls the 8 Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy
as courageous and says he would have done the same.
This former high school history teacher also stresses local schools,
not the government, should have more say over students.
McCarthy did not respond to a request for comment on
Giulio's campaign and has multiple call outs of the congressman.
Danieha 17 News.