Angela Valles, who cut her political teeth in the Victor Valley two decades ago, shocking and rearranging the political establishment while doing so, is seeking to represent a Congressional District in the northern part of the state.
As before, Valles is approaching her candidacy in ways that are not in keeping with the powers that be on either side of the political spectrum.
Valles was elected to the Victor Valley College Board of Trustees in 2007, which was essentially a baby-step that made few, if any waves. In 2010, she vied for a position on the Victorville City Council, which again rang no major alarm bells until she won. At that point, she stepped into a whirlpool of controversy. Victorville, the third of San Bernardino County’s desert city’s to incorporate in 1962, had grown into the county’s fifth largest city population-wise and its largest geographically. Once host to an Air Force Base that was being transitioned into an international airport for which city officials had hopes of becoming the largest air cargo transport facility in the world, Victorville in addition to its municipal government had multiple adjuncts, including aviation and rail authorities. The community was attracting investment dollars from elsewhere in Southern California, in particular Orange and Los Angeles Counties as well as from elsewhere in the state, across the country and internationally. Infrastructure was being constructed and a race was on among companies competing to get lucrative contracts to build it. Money was changing hands as corporate interests were attempting to get in on the ground floor and secure advantages going into the future. Alliances had been set up years previously and individuals placed onto the city council who were long committed to seeing the interests of those who had bankrolled their campaigns advanced.
The High Desert and the Victor Valley in particular were already a hotbed of conservative, right wing politics. Valles fit into the mold of the area’s politicians but at the same time, she did not. She was a Republican and a social, fiscal and Constitutional conservative. As a Latina, her alliance with the GOP was at a variance from what many might have expected. And her rock-ribbed Republicanism and fiscal conservatism was something else again compared to what the Republicans running Victorville expected.
City fathers were on a mission to make the money of those who had invested in Victorville grow. That meant cutting corners, ethically and legally. Political grease was being spread around to make sure projects and programs, which might otherwise bog down or get denied in the planning process, were approved. Bonds were being issued to pay for infrastructure and public improvements which were secured by assets and collateral which were woefully overvalued.
Initially coming into office, Valles was aware of none of that. She had expected to become a member of the team, indeed was looking forward to it, but that did not happen. What she sensed, virtually from the moment she was sworn in as a councilwoman, was that she was an outsider whom those already on the inside were not sure about. They were not certain that she could be trusted if she were told about everything that was happening. She was kept in the dark on a lot of things. Still, there were things she couldn’t miss.
“On the Victorville city council I saw the corruption and kickbacks,” she said. Having not been welcomed into the inner sanctum, she made no bones about distinguishing herself from her council colleagues, referring to action the council took as things “they” rather than “we” carried out.
In April 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that fraud was committed by the city of Victorville, the Southern California Logistics Airport Authority and Keith Metzler, who held the dual roles of assistant city manager and executive director of the airport authority, when misrepresentations were allegedly made to the purchasers of bonds, the proceeds from which were intended to assist in the development of Southern California Logistics Airport.
The airport authority was formed by the city of Victorville to facilitate the conversion of the former George Air Force Base, which was shuttered by the Department of Defense in 1992, into a civilian airport. The Southern California Logistics Airport Authority, which has as its board of directors all five members of the Victorville City Council, issued bonds which were sold to investors to generate revenue to be used in converting the base to civilian use.
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s action pertained to bonds that were issued in April 2008, before Valles was elected to the council. There was suspicion among those in the Victorville establishment that it was Valles who had dimed the city out to the SEC. Valles has never confirmed that, exactly, saying simply, “I fought them. I saw them giving everyone raises even while we were failing to make bond payments.”
Relatively early on, Valles recognized that her ability, on her own, to reform Victorville was limited. In 2012, she sought, but ultimately failed, to move into a more powerful and higher ranking position from which she could effectuate change. In 2012, when long-time Congressman Jerry Lewis did not seek reelection in what was then California’s 8th Congessional District, she ran, as a Republican, to succeed him. Ultimately, Paul Cook, then a California Assemblyman, prevailed in that bid.
In 2014, she opted against seeking reelection to the Victorville City Council. In 2016, she and her husband, Apple Valley Councilman Rick Roelle, in a highly unconventional move, both challenged incumbent San Bernardino County First District Supervisor Robert Lovingood for reelection. They were joined in the race by two city councilmen from Hesperia. Valles captured second place in that year’s June Primary Election and went on to the run-off against Lovingood that November. She lost in a surprisingly narrow 51.76 percent to 48.24 percent contest to the incumbent.

In 2018 Valles was among a field of 12 candidates in the race for three positions on the Apple Valley Town Council. She finished seventh.
She has not been directly involved in politics since, other than as a consequence of Roelle’s service as a member of the Apple Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees and through her commentary on her personal blog, which expounds, sometimes extensively, on politics. As a consequence of her blog, there was speculation that she was going to run for the Apple Valley Town Council this year. That is not accurate, however. She says she had no such plans and, in actuality, is a resident of Apple Valley’s District 2, where an election will next be held in 2028.
Valles and Roelle also have a home in Northern California, which falls within California’s First Congressional District. Last year, in reaction to a redistricting effort in Texas pushed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott intended to transform congressional districts in the Lone Star State held by Democrats into Republican leaning jurisdictions that will therefore fall into Republican hands and help preserve a Republican majority House of Representatives following the mid-term November 2026 election, California Governor Gavin Newsom and his Democratic cohorts placed Proposition 50 on a special November 2025 ballot. Proposition 50 called for gerrymandering the existing California Congressional map such that five of the 12 congressional seats in California now held by Republicans will be likely to flip to Democrats in the November 2026 election. Among those seats where the borders were rearranged to move Republicans out of the district and Democrats in was the First Congressional District to which Republican Doug LaMalfa was elected in 2024. Proposition 5 was passed by the state’s voters in November 2025.
In a quick response, Democrats Mike McGuire, James Salegui, Casey Stewart and Kyle Wilson jumped into the First Congressional District race. The Republicans were yet backing up and trying to regroup, contemplating, perhaps, getting another Republican to run in the primary, hoping that with so many Democrats competing and two Republicans in the race, the Democratic vote might be diluted to the point that the two Republicans would finish first and second in the June Primary, qualifying themselves for November run-off, thus thwarting Newsom and company’s plan to flip the Republican First Congressional District Democratic. Things went topsy-turvy on January 6 when LaMalfa died.
According to Valles, “Following the unfortunate passing of Congressman Doug LaMalfa, I believed there was both an opportunity and a responsibility to ensure Northern California does not lose this Republican seat under the realities created by Proposition 50 and redistricting. Quite candidly, repeating the same candidate profile without regard to changing voter demographics places the seat at risk.
“In that context, I was contacted by Mike Greer, who identified himself as representing the Northern California Republican Central Committee,” Valles continued. “During that conversation, he encouraged me not to run, explaining that party leadership preferred career politician Dan Gallagher of the California Assembly and did not want additional candidates ‘crowding the field.’ I respectfully declined. I made clear that I am running because I believe I offer a stronger, more competitive alternative—particularly among independent voters, Hispanic voters, and women, all of whom are increasingly decisive in District 1. If Republicans fail to broaden the coalition, this seat is far more likely to flip.”
Valles said, “While I have never received formal party support, my decision is grounded in electoral reality, not internal politics. California Republicans will not secure or expand representation without candidates who reflect and appeal to the voters necessary to win general elections.”
In spelling out her campaign platform, Valles said, “Northern California’s economy is driven by small businesses, agriculture, trades, tourism, and resource-based industries” and she said the region needs, “economic opportunity, small business and workforce development.”
With regard to the nation’s overall need for fiscal responsibility, she said Congress in general must reduce federal spending and the national debt. “The national debt is a serious threat to economic stability, national security, and future generations. Endless deficit spending reflects political convenience, not leadership.”
She indicated that she is behind President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, stating this was a matter of “public safety, border consequences and the rule of law. P ublic safety begins with the rule of law. When laws are selectively enforced, rural communities suffer.”
With Valles, maintaining the Second Amendment right to bear arms as a fundamental American principle is “non-negotiable. The Second Amendment is absolute. It is not a suggestion, not a privilege, and not subject to political fashion. It exists for one reason: to ensure that free people are never dependent on criminals or corrupt systems for their survival.”
She opined that the federal government has been remiss in its managing of forest lands, leading to catastrophic massive wildland fires.
“Wildfires are not an unavoidable reality at today’s scale,” she said. “They are the result of federal mismanagement, bureaucratic delay, and ideological land policies.”
She said the state and federal government should remain in their lanes.
“One-size-fits-all federal mandates frequently fail rural communities,” she said.
While she supports President Trump over the Democratic alternatives, she indicated that the executive branch at the federal level has overstepped itself and that she favors restoring constitutional governance and congressional oversight.
“The Constitution places Congress closest to the people and gives it oversight authority for a reason,” she said.
Valles said she is in favor of ending federal income tax and abolishing property taxes, and funding the U.S. Government through tariffs rather than taxes on citizens’ wages.
“The federal income tax is a weapon of control that punishes work, tracks earnings, and feeds a bloated federal bureaucracy,” she said. “It allows Washington to confiscate wages before families ever see their paychecks — all while wasting trillions with no accountability. Property taxes are one of the most abusive and unconstitutional forms of taxation in America. If the government can seize your home because you stopped paying a recurring tax on property you already purchased, then you do not own your property — the government does.”
Northern California deserves serious representation focused on results, responsibility, and respect for the people who live and work here. For too long, rural communities have carried the consequences of federal decisions made far away, without local understanding, transparency, or accountability.
This campaign is about restoring trust in government, defending liberty, and ensuring California’s First District is no longer an afterthought in Washington.

Federal law does not require a congressional candidate to reside full-time in the district he or she represents but within the state of the Congressional delegation he or she is a part of. Despite Valles’s long association with the Victor Valley, she is actually a resident with an established domicile in Shasta County.
“I purchased a Lakehouse in Lakehead, California, approximately three years ago, and have been splitting my time between Southern and Northern California since then,” Valles told the Sentinel. “I am registered to vote in District 1. I live in the district part-time, and it is where Rick and I intend to retire one day.”