A California state Democratic lawmaker has apologized after a report said that he had fudged his age by over 10 years on a dating app.
The report from the The San Joaquin Valley Sun detailed that California state assemblyman and Congressional candidate Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield) had said he was 11 years younger than his actual age on multiple dating apps, according to screenshots obtained by the outlet.
“I made a mistake,” Salas said in a statement to the Sun confirming he had misrepresented his age. “It won’t happen again.”
The screenshots obtained by the outlet show that multiple of the 45-year-old congressional candidate’s dating profiles said that he was 34. Salas reportedly had both Tinder and Bumble profiles.
Salas will face off in a primary for California’s 22nd congressional district against Rep. David Valadao (R-CA), Republican Chris Mathys, a Fresno city councilman, and Adam Medeiros, a trustee for the Kings County Board of Education. First and second place in the primary will then compete in the November general.
Valadao, who has represented the 21st district, earned criticism from some Republicans for his vote to impeach former President Trump in 2021. Rival Mathys has made his support of Trump key in his pitch to voters.
Cally Perkins, the press secretary of the Congressional Leadership Fund, a Super PAC devoted to getting Republicans in Congress, said that voters should “swipe left” on Salas.
“If Rudy Salas can’t be trusted on something as simple as his age, then clearly he can’t be trusted to represent Californians in Congress,” Perkins said. “This is just one more reason for voters to ‘swipe left’ on Rudy Salas.”
Salas has been in the California assembly since 2012, and his campaign page says that he “has been a steadfast voice for the Valley in the state capitol, fighting for more public safety funding, expanding workforce development programs, expanding veterans’ and workers’ rights, clean water infrastructure and support for our small business community.”
According to FiveThirtyEight, newly-drawn California district 22 leans +10 Democratic. However, the seat could be competitive depending on midterm turnout and enthusiasm levels in November. The 22nd district used to lean Republican before redistricting.
According to some reports, the race in the district is considered a “toss up.”
“It is a Democrat-leaning district, but in the past, Republican turnout in the district has been very high and surpassed Democratic turnout,” said Neel Sannappa, a Democratic political analyst.