New Investigation Finds Former Assemblyman Adam Gray Gave Nearly $40K in Campaign Funds To Family Members

A new investigation this week revealed that former Assemblyman and current Congressional candidate for the 13th Congressional District Adam Gray (D) spent around $40,000 of campaign funds by paying his own family members between 2012 and 2019.

Gray is currently running for the 13th Congressional seat, which spans the San Joaquin Valley covering all of Merced County, most of Madera County, and parts of Stanislaus, Fresno, and San Joaquin Counties, against the current Congressman John Duarte (R-CA). Gray was an Assemblyman for 10 years representing the area between 2012 and 2022. Term-limited out in 2022 and with an open Congressional seat, Gray ran against Duarte in 2022.

However, Duarte beat Gray in the closest House race in the country by around 500 votes. The total was so close that it officially wasn’t called until late November. Despite losing in 2022, Gray decided to run again this year. And once again, the 2024 race is close, with every election prediction hub labeling it as a toss-up. According to the USC/Poly poll last month, Gray has a narrow 46% to 45% lead with a 9% undecided vote. However, with Duarte having more money in the tank than Gray, and the GOP currently riding a wave of Latino support, pollsters have said that Duarte has shifted the race back to being a virtual tie.

This week, records accessed from the California Secretary of State found that, between 2012 and 2019, Gray had paid his half-sister, Marit Medefind, a nurse and diabetes care specialist at Golden Valley Health Centers, over $37,000 worth of “campaign consultant fees.”

It was also found through FEC filings that his mother, Candice Adam-Medefind, an executive Director at Healthy House Merced, had also received several hundred dollars of “Civic Donations”.

While Gray did do the right thing and report the payments, it’s questionable as to what campaign consulting and civic donations are in these situations. At best, it’s Gray diverting campaign funds to pay family members a considerable amount of money, rather than do what countless other campaigns do and opt out of nepotism. As Gray nor his campaigns had clarified what the funds were used specifically for in the past, it is questionable as to what exactly he paid his family for.

The filings do pass the FEC irrespective test, meaning that they were not funds for personal use. However, that leaves them in a gray area, with funds going indirectly to family members through “consultant fees” and “civic” donations that have never been clarified.

On Tuesday, National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Spokesman Ben Petersen said “The Valley is getting screwed over by the Sacramento political elites like Adam Gray. Gray selfishly lined his pockets while hardworking people struggled to afford groceries and gas because of Gray’s inflationary policies.”

Others said that, despite the payments passing federal approval, the optics of him paying family members would likely not sit right with many voters.

“What Gray did was not illegal, but nonetheless he needs to be very careful about this,” explained Central California pollster Maria Ruiz to the Globe on Tuesday. “Improper use of campaign funds is a huge political no-no. Former Congressman Duncan Hunter learned the hard way on that.

“What Gray did here was shady no matter how you spin it or show legitimacy. As soon as campaign funds start going to family members, no matter how legitimate, even if it is just reimbursing your mom for food she bought for a campaign dinner,  it looks bad. A lot of lawmakers do it, but they usually are a bit more descriptive as to how than Gray. It looks suspicious when it is just “Campaign consultant” because that can mean anything. Or “civic donations”. Very vague.

“What it comes down to is that Gray did give money to family from campaign funds in the past. That can’t be denied. But as we have seen in campaigns in the past, those kind of payments always rub voters the wrong way. Always. I mean, that’s 37k his sister got while the median wage in Merced is under $60,000 a year. He gave campaign money to already wealthy family members for consulting on the campaign. That is a huge mistake. And this information coming out now during a campaign this close will not end well.”

More on the payments are expected soon.