A New Voice Rising from California’s Heartland
In a state that feeds the world but often seems to fight its own farmers, Assemblyman David Tangipa has emerged as one of the most outspoken defenders of California agriculture. His story is neither polished nor political. It’s rooted in sweat, work, and the generosity of growers who once gave him a chance when he had nowhere else to go.
Speaking with Nick Papagni on AgNet West, Tangipa reflected on how leadership failures, misguided policy, and what he calls “dereliction and negligence” have put California’s future at risk — and why rejecting Proposition 50 has become a defining fight for the Central Valley.
The Real Cause Behind California’s Wildfires
Tangipa began by challenging the familiar narrative that California’s wildfires are primarily caused by climate change.
“Those communities in the Palisades and Eaton area didn’t burn down because of climate change,” he said firmly. “They burned down because of dereliction and negligence.”
He cited a 1970s documentary about the Los Angeles wildfires and a hand-written Cal Fire report that mapped the same burn scar seen today. The report concluded that flood basins and dams were critical for future protection — the very reason the Santa Ynez Reservoir was eventually built. Yet, Tangipa said, the LADWP left that basin empty, under-resourced, and unprepared.
When fires struck, electric fleets lacked power, tenders sat idle, and officials scrambled to coordinate emergency response.
“This wasn’t about nature,” Tangipa said. “It was about leadership failing to do its job.”
For him, this neglect symbolized a broader problem: state leaders prioritizing political narratives over practical governance.
“We’re forcing this crazy ideology to push an agenda that sacrifices people’s homes and livelihoods,” he warned. “If it’s a policy problem, that means it’s a people issue — and people can vote it out.”
A Call to Action: Leadership and Proposition 50
For Tangipa, rejecting Proposition 50 isn’t just about one measure — it’s about resetting the entire direction of California policy.
“If we vote No on Prop 50,” he said, “we can change this state in the blink of an eye.”
Papagni agreed.
“If California was great once, it can be great again,” he said. “But if people from San Jose are representing Coalinga, we’re in trouble.”
Tangipa didn’t disagree. He believes breaking the supermajority in Sacramento is the only path forward.
“It’s going to be a hard few years unless we start standing up,” he cautioned. “We’re about two seconds into an eight-second ride — but these are going to be the longest eight seconds we’ll ever face.”
Economic Warnings for California Farmers
Tangipa turned to the economic storm he sees forming over California’s rural heartland. He warned farmers to “stay lean” — to cut unnecessary costs, pay down debts, and prepare for turbulence.
The state, he argued, is financially broken, and its leaders are searching for short-term revenue in all the wrong places:
- Payroll tax increases on small businesses and farms.
- Higher insurance premiums, as companies flee California’s unstable markets.
- Soaring utility costs, worsened by lawsuits over fire liabilities.
The Assemblyman also pointed to energy shortages, highlighting the closure of the Phillips 66 refinery, which erased 10 percent of the state’s fuel capacity. If Benicia closes in 2026, another 10 percent disappears.
“That’s 20 percent of our refining capacity gone,” he said. “And the only reason gas prices aren’t eight or nine dollars a gallon is because federal policy is increasing the national supply.”
Yet California’s insistence on its own special fuel blend — a formula produced almost nowhere else — makes it dependent on imports from Singapore when local refineries falter.
“That’s how fragile this system is,” Tangipa said. “Federal production is bailing California out right now.”
Generational Burdens and the Price of the American Dream
Tangipa sees these economic pressures falling hardest on young Californians. With median home prices above $825,000 and the nation’s highest utility and insurance costs, the dream of homeownership is slipping away.
“We just want the same opportunity our parents and grandparents had,” he said.
He compared middle-class wages from the 1990s — roughly $64,000 — to today’s equivalent purchasing power of more than $200,000. Very few in their 20s to 40s make that.
“Less than four percent,” he noted. “And the same people who created this mess think they can fix it.”
Papagni nodded. The two agreed that Proposition 50 would accelerate job losses, worsen the water crisis, and weaken rural labor markets.
“It’ll be a disaster,” Papagni said.
Tangipa added,
“It would nationalize California’s worst policies — the same ones that gave us the highest poverty and unemployment in the country.”
California’s Model — or a Warning?
When asked why so many Californians are leaving for Texas, Tangipa’s answer was simple: affordability and freedom.
“People aren’t moving because of the weather,” he said. “They’re moving because they can do business and afford to live.”
He challenged the notion that California’s system should be copied nationally.
“Maybe a little more Texas for the nation is better than a little more California for the nation,” he quipped.
For Tangipa, it isn’t about partisan rivalry — it’s about governance grounded in results. If policies are failing Californians, exporting them to the rest of America would be catastrophic.
Defending the Central Valley — The State’s Beating Heart
At the center of Tangipa’s message is a deep pride in the Central Valley, which he calls the “engine of the nation’s food supply.”
“We feed the world,” Papagni reminded listeners. “As long as humans are eating, we need to support farming right here in the Central Valley.”
Tangipa agreed wholeheartedly.
“We have the best soil, the best water system — we stand on the shoulders of giants,” he said. “The people who built the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project thought of our future. We owe them stewardship.”
But he lamented that California’s leaders have forgotten that duty.
“We’re the fourth-generation farmer who didn’t do what our great-grandparents did,” he said. “We got a little lazy, and now we’re losing the farm.”
California’s prosperity, he argued, was built by those who labored for decades to make sure the next generation could thrive. Now, complacency and over-regulation threaten to undo it.
A Shrinking Agricultural Base
Papagni noted that California has lost roughly 20 percent of its small farms in recent years, while urban housing sprawls across prime farmland. The state now faces a $30-billion food deficit — importing more food than it exports.
“People have no idea how expensive food’s going to be,” Papagni warned.
Tangipa agreed and underscored the irony:
“There isn’t a plate in this country that doesn’t have something from the Central Valley — almonds, pistachios, raisins, you name it,” he said. “Our ag value here rivals entire nations. Yet we don’t protect the people who make it happen.”
He reflected on how agriculture once defined every civilization.
“For millennia, everyone was a farmer,” he said. “Today, farmers give others the freedom to be doctors and lawyers. And we’ve grown ungrateful for it.”
To him, it’s time for California to fight for its farmers, not regulate them into extinction.
“We grow most of the nation’s food and still pay the most for it,” Tangipa said. “How does that make sense? How can Iowa in January — 19 degrees below zero — have cheaper produce that came from us? It’s madness.”
Grassroots Effort: The Fight Against Proposition 50
As election day neared, Tangipa outlined the movement behind the No on Prop 50 campaign. Across the Central Valley, volunteers were walking precincts, organizing rallies, and calling voters.
“We’ve got an event in Bakersfield this weekend, another in Fresno, one in Hanford,” he said. “But the most important thing is to go to reject50.com. Tell 50 friends. Donate $50 if you can.”
The campaign, he said, faces overwhelming odds.
“It’s like playing Alabama with the refs on their side,” he joked. “But we’re still going to fight.”
Tangipa personally committed to knocking on 1,000 doors before election day.
“If Californians believe this state is worth fighting for — for their kids and grandkids — we need them now,” he said. “No more California refugees. We need California rebels.”
Papagni assured him that AgNet West was fully behind the effort.
“We’re on your team, David,” he said.
Tangipa replied with characteristic humor.
“Nick, you just have to keep being great,” he laughed. “But if I’m the best friend you’ve got, you might need better friends.”
Papagni laughed. “You’re the Ag Meters guy,” he said. “A competitor who never gives up. That’s what I love about you.”
A Personal Journey Shaped by Farmers
As the conversation wound down, Tangipa turned reflective. His passion, he said, comes from personal experience — not politics.
“Those who took me in changed my life,” he said quietly. “They had no reason to, but they opened their doors. And that’s every farmer who feeds the world.”
During his years as a student at Fresno State, Tangipa struggled to make ends meet.
“I was pretty much homeless,” he recalled. “I gassed and bagged raisins just to survive.”
Farmers gave him work, mentorship, and a sense of belonging.
“Because of them, I’m here today,” he said. “Now it’s my turn to fight for them.”
Papagni noted that hardship seemed to have forged Tangipa’s character.
“You’re a fighter,” he said. “Maybe even our future governor someday.”
Tangipa laughed off the idea.
“Don’t wish that on me,” he said. “In 20 years, I just want to coach high school football, help kids in the Central Valley, watch a game on Friday night. But we won’t have that future unless we stand up now.”
Final Push: One Month to Go
Before signing off, Tangipa urged every listener to get involved — in any way possible.