With less than a week to go before Election Day on November 5, Republican incumbent Rep. John Duarte and Democratic challenger Adam Gray will debate live on Thursday night as they seek the 13th Congressional District, a race that could help determine which party controls the U.S. House. “DEBATE NIGHT IN CALIFORNIA: 13th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT,” will begin at 7 p.m. PST and will be moderated by FOX40 News anchor and co-host of Inside California Politics, Nikki Laurenzo, and KGPE CBS47 News anchor Brian Dorman. The debate will air in the Sacramento, Stockton and Modesto areas on FOX40, and in the Fresno and Visalia areas on CBS47. There will be a livestream of the debate at the top of this article, and the debate will also be livestreamed on YourCentralValley.com, and on the FOX40 and CBS47 mobile apps. The race for the 13th Congressional District is a rematch of the 2022 race, which Gray lost by 564 votes, the second-closest House race in that election. The district encompasses the communities between and along the I-5 and Highway 99, from the Tracy area in the north to the Coalinga area in the south. Freshman Rep. Duarte comes from a farming family in the Central Valley and owns one of the largest crop nurseries in the country, Duarte Nursery. As a farmer, Duarte clashed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over violations of the Clean Water Act related to the use of wetlands for farming. Duarte ultimately agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle the issue.  In Congress, Duarte serves on various subcommittees, including the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit; the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials; and the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries. During the campaign, Duarte has framed himself as a more moderate Republican who is focused on bipartisanship.  The congressman has occasionally voted out of step with his fellow Republicans on key bills such as the 2023 Secure Our Borders Act, which he said would hurt farmers and noted that it lacked support for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). According to his campaign, Gray was born and raised in Merced and worked at his family's farm supply store. Gray worked as a staff member for various California elected officials, including disgraced state Senator Ron Calderon, before becoming a State Assembly member in 2012.  Gray held his Assembly seat for 10 years, during which he also at times went against his party. While in the Assembly, Gray fought an environmental effort by the state to restrict the use of water flowing through the region in order to help preserve the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.