Kings County is not a place most people would expect to see much resistance to the illegal and immoral policies and actions of the Trump administration. It is home to industrial agriculture, state prisons, a major military base and a prominent Indian gaming casino. Its population is ethnically diverse but leans politically and socially conservative. Yet in the midst of this valley heartland milieu, there is a vigorous and growing activism to thwart the impacts of Project 2025 and the MAGA movement.
Led by the county Democratic Party, activists have unleashed a vigorous campaign to demonstrate and to educate Kings County citizens in defying an unprecedented assault on long-cherished civil rights and social norms.
At the core of this effort are two energetic and savvy retired educators—Karla Orosco and Cathy Jorgensen. This dynamic duo is laying the groundwork, and people throughout the county are taking notice and joining in.
Hanford, a thriving rural city of about 60,000 souls, is the county seat and commercial center. Downtown has a rustic, small-town charm with legacy buildings surrounding a civic park. Residential suburbs creep into orchards and fields surrounding the city in all directions.
This is the ground that Orosco and Jorgensen, along with many other volunteers, are tilling and planting with the seeds of resistance and activism they hope will grow into electoral victories in the 2026 elections and beyond.
Much of the action is taking place on the streets of Hanford. As in other cities, the activists have a bridge brigade of folks who display signs and messages in town on walkways spanning streets and highways.
Orosco explains that it is all about visibility. “We do at least once a week, Lemoore and two bridges in Hanford. We don’t like to advertise where we’re going to be, so we cut down on the agitators. And we’ve had a lot of support in Kings County.”
Orosco admits that it is a lot of work. “I have a crew of about 15. We made lighted letters with the messages. When Renee Good was killed, and when Alex Preti was killed, we did a week of action outside Congressman [David] Valadao’s office, which has a bridge a block down from him that we are often at. He hates it.
“We get a lot of people, we get honks of support and people pulling over and thanking us.
“A lot of people here are still afraid to say that they’re not conservative. I think that’s changing. We’ve had people not afraid to put signs in their yards.”
In addition, Orosco says they do pop-up protests with only three days of notice to minimize potential agitators. All this activity is working. “I’ve acquired a list of about 700 people who want to know what’s going on with activism against this administration.”
She adds that local authorities have a hands-off attitude toward protesters. “We’re a small community, so we know the police, we know the sheriff. I think they look at a bunch of retired teachers who are up there and don’t want to give them a lot of flak.”
Unsurprisingly, there has been pushback from the other side, mostly in the form of online bullying or individual comments.
One unfortunate and criminal action that has happened at some street demonstrations is called “Rolling Coal.” It is a process by which owners of diesel pickups or trucks modify the emission control system so they can release plumes of thick black smoke while cruising close to those demonstrating or standing nearby. It is illegal and a Clean Air Act violation.
Reports of resulting asthma attacks have come forth in Hanford. Activists want authorities to investigate.
A similar action has occurred at events across the nation. Reportedly, such drivers have been prosecuted in some states.
There is also an amusing side to the outreach, according to Jorgensen. “We’ve been putting up billboards directly hitting Valadao, one with the two Pinocchio noses of Valadao’s and Trump’s meeting together. We’ve got that billboard reserved and paid for through the primaries.”
Jorgensen explains that the Democrats are also spreading the word at community events. “We have a booth at the farmers’ market six months out of the year every Thursday night, and we volunteer at the Episcopal Church Soup Kitchen once a month.”
They are also involved in leadership meetings for the soup kitchen and helping to raise funds for the $30,000 the soup kitchen lost from cuts to government food support programs.
The outreach effort in these venues is paying off for Kings County Democrats. “We’ve been doing the soup kitchen for three years,” says Orosco.
“They know the third Monday of the month is the Democratic Day. And it’s been good for our group. We’re just trying to build community.”
Thanks to funding from Bay Area friends, the Kings County Democrats have an office for the first time in years. It is a hub of activism where volunteers can make posters or write postcards. Orosco says they even have a craft night where folks can decorate small rocks with anti-fascist messages.
“We have people coming in who just want to be with other people who think like them,” said Orosco. “A lot of people tend to isolate themselves because they think they’re the only ones in Kings County who might be progressive.”
While ICE has not been targeting Kings County, likely because farmers there mostly support Trump, Orosco says they are preparing just in case.
“Our office makes little bags with whistles and signs about how to blow those whistles, and what the signals are, who to call if you see ICE and what are your rights,” she says. “We’re making those in English and Spanish, and we’re giving them out wherever we can.
“We are also reaching out to our other towns like Corcoran, Kettleman City, Stratford and Armona. We’re just trying to hit the whole county.
“We have a voter problem, so we’ve got to get voters to turn out. So, we’re going to do registration drives. Just trying to make it a positive experience.”
All this activism is taking place in a county dominated by institutions that Jorgensen describes as “really conservative” like much of the older, whiter political and religious leadership.
When they’re not demonstrating, the Kings County Democrats are working toward the midterm elections. Before Proposition 50, which scrambled California’s Congressional districts, all of Kings County was in CD22 represented by native-son David Valadao (R–Hanford), whose family runs a dairy farm. And the Democrats are making the case for his removal.
Valadao is vulnerable according to Orosco. “Two-thirds of his constituents rely on Medicaid for their insurance, and that is going to start to go away.
“We have people who have good insurance, but they’re forced to go to LA or San Francisco to get medical care because their insurance is not working with the hospitals or clinics that are here.
“Some of our areas are losing clinics. It’s really going to hurt us.”
Jorgensen says that funding for U.S. Department of Agriculture farm-to-school food programs has been cut and noted that Valadao voted for all the legislation that is now causing harm to county residents.
Orosco adds that they are attracting older people who are afraid of losing their Medi-Cal and their Medicare and Social Security. “Older people are afraid. They’re afraid for their grandchildren.
“It really gets to me when I see how afraid they are. They get emotional when they come to our protests and they’re so thankful.”
Work toward replacing Valadao with a Democrat is already underway, Jorgensen notes. “We’ve started canvassing already. We are getting more information making sure that we will have poll watchers and contacting the state party for attorneys.
“We’ll be carrying literature not only for our Congressional candidate but also for school board candidates and trying to support down-ballot candidates. We’ve got a real problem here with down-ballot races.”
Randy Villegas is the candidate that Jorgensen and the Kings County Democrats would like to see in Congress. Villegas is a son of immigrants born and raised locally. He earned a Ph.D. from UC Santa Cruz and is a professor of political science at College of Sequoias.
His core belief is “that government should work for everyone, not just the powerful few.” Villegas asserts that he is running a grassroots campaign and is not taking any money from corporations.
Kings County Democrats are doing everything they can throughout the county to get citizens registered and voting. They have confidence in the county’s election mechanism, which has widespread ballot boxes and efficient processing.
“We are out there with signs for candidates,” Orosco stresses. “We’re out there offering to help people learn if they have questions on what to do with their ballots. We offer rides to people who might want to vote in person.
“We will do whatever it takes to let people know that they need to exercise their right to vote in Kings County. We don’t want 15% turnout. We want, you know, 70%, and we’d love to see over 50%.”
Kings and Tulare Democrats are hosting their Champions of Change dinner on March 7 at the Visalia Wyndham from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. featuring former Stockton mayor and current candidate for lieutenant governor Michael Tubbs. For tickets or more information, contact kingscountydemsevents@gmail.com.
