John Duarte Called a Water Board Inquiry a “Witch Hunt.” The Accused Director’s Family, Partners and Businesses Have Given Alexandra Duarte $26,000.

In December 2025, the Modesto Irrigation District board took up whether to keep investigating one of its own directors, Larry Byrd, who had been accused of using district water on almond trees outside the district’s boundaries. Former Rep. John Duarte, Alexandra Duarte’s husband, spoke in his defense. “Put this witch hunt to rest,” he said, according to The Modesto Bee. “I hope (Byrd) stays on the board for a long time. I fully support him, he’s a friend of mine.”

The orchard at the center of the case belongs to a partnership, AB La Grange Ranch. Its county business-name filings list three registrants: Byrd; his brother, Timothy A. Byrd; and Tyler C. Angle Business Ventures, LP. Byrd has been listed since the first filing, in 2015. The Bee reported that Byrd co-owns the ranch with his brother and east-side landowner Tyler “Ty” Angle. Byrd’s own financial disclosure for 2025 lists him as the partnership’s managing partner and values his stake at more than $1 million. He reported his share of its gross income as more than $100,000, the form’s top bracket. That is the partnership whose water use the board was investigating when Byrd voted against continuing the inquiry. Campaign finance records show that Byrd’s family ranch, his brother, the partnership itself, and Angle family members and businesses have given $26,000 to Alexandra Duarte’s State Senate campaign. Angle family members and Byrd also gave about $65,000 to John Duarte’s congressional committees from 2022 through 2024, federal records show.

Byrd has denied wrongdoing, and no agency has found that he took district water. Neither John nor Alexandra Duarte has been accused of wrongdoing in the matter.

The allegation

At a July 2025 board meeting, a member of the public said satellite images suggested Byrd and his partners were irrigating more land than they had district water rights for. The ranch, AB La Grange, near Roberts Ferry, has about 340 acres inside the district and 96 acres outside it.

An investigation by the engineering firm 4Creeks, commissioned by district leadership, found that the 96 out-of-district acres needed more water from 2021 to 2024 than their wells could supply, The Modesto Focus reported. It could not prove that district water made up the difference. Byrd called the investigation a “witch hunt” and said, “This is definitely fake news, and it’s a lie.”

On Dec. 16, 2025, the board deadlocked 2-2 on hiring an attorney to continue the inquiry, so it ended. Byrd and Director Janice Keating voted no; Vice President John Boer recused himself, according to the meeting minutes. The minutes list John Duarte and Tim Byrd among 12 members of the public who spoke on the investigation. Earlier in the meeting, John Duarte spoke against making Frobose board president for 2026. State Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil filed a sworn complaint over Byrd’s vote, and the state Fair Political Practices Commission said it would investigate, SJV Water reported. In June 2026, board president Robert Frobose asked state Attorney General Rob Bonta to investigate, The Bee reported. Those reviews have not announced findings.

Who gave to Alexandra Duarte

State records list these contributions to Duarte for Senate 2026 from September 2025 through September 2026:

• Triple A Ranches: $8,500
• JX Byrd Cattle Ranch: $5,000, in five $1,000 contributions
• Christopher Angle: $5,000
• Cal Coast Almond Processing: $4,000
• Cal-Almond Hulling Shelling Farming: $1,000
• Modesto Reservoir Ranch: $1,000
• Timothy Byrd: $1,000
• AB La Grange Ranch: $500

County business-name filings tie these businesses to the Angles and Byrd. Triple A Ranches is registered to Ski Angle and Tyler Angle. Modesto Reservoir Ranch is registered to Tyler Angle as general partner of Tyler Angle Family Ventures, LP. Cal Almond Hulling Shelling Farming is registered to T.S.K. Properties, Inc., an “almond farmer, huller, and sheller” whose 2025 state filing lists Tyler C. Angle as chief executive and Ski M. Angle as secretary and chief financial officer. In their latest filings, all three businesses list the same Hughson address as AB La Grange Ranch, which is also T.S.K. Properties’ principal office. Federal filings point the same way: when Triple A Ranches, Modesto Reservoir Ranch and AB La Grange gave to John Duarte’s committees, the filings split those contributions among Tyler, Ski and Christopher Angle and, for AB La Grange, Larry Byrd. Federal filings list Larry Byrd’s employer as JX Byrd Cattle Ranch. Christopher Angle listed his employer as Modesto Reservoir Ranch in his state filing. Cal Coast Almond Processing, Inc., formed in 2021, lists Christopher Douglas Angle as its incorporator and its only officer and director, state corporation records show. The Valley Citizen, a local commentary site, has identified Chris Angle as Ty Angle’s son.

The money has also run the other way. When Byrd ran for the irrigation board in 2020, John Duarte gave his campaign $1,000, listing himself as a self-employed farmer with Duarte Nursery, according to Byrd’s campaign statement. Triple A Ranches and the T.C. Angle 1999 Trust gave $1,000 each, and Masellis Drilling gave $2,000.

The water board race

The same donors are backing Dominic Giorgi, who is challenging Frobose for the Modesto Irrigation District’s Division 3 seat on Nov. 3. Giorgi raised $54,000 from July 1 through Sept. 19, his campaign statement shows. More than half, $30,000, came from four businesses tied to the Angles: Triple A Ranches and Cal Coast Almond Processing gave $10,000 each, and Cal-Almond Hulling Shelling Farming and Modesto Reservoir Ranch gave $5,000 each. JX Byrd Cattle Ranch and AB La Grange gave $1,000 each. John Duarte gave $2,500.

John Duarte is one of two endorsers on Giorgi’s campaign website. “I endorse Dominic because he will stop the wasteful spending and rate hikes that have hurt our families and businesses,” it quotes him saying. The other is Stanislaus County Supervisor Terry Withrow, whose old supervisor campaign committee gave $2,500 to Alexandra Duarte’s campaign in May 2026, state records show.

The two men are also the only endorsers quoted on two Giorgi mailers. “Frobose’s rate increases and wasteful spending have hurt our families and businesses,” John Duarte says on both. One adds, “Dominic will stop wasteful spending and rate hikes”; the other, “Dominic will focus on our working families who struggle to pay the bills each month.”

One mailer describes Giorgi as a diesel mechanic “for a local well-drilling company.” His campaign statement names the company: it lists his own $500 loan to the campaign and his job as “Mechanic, Masellis Drilling.” Masellis Drilling gave Giorgi $2,500. It also gave $2,500 to Alexandra Duarte’s campaign, state records show, and $2,000 to Byrd’s 2020 campaign.

The east-side water fight

The donors and the Duartes share a cause: groundwater for farms east of Modesto that lie outside the irrigation districts. Alexandra Duarte led the Stanislaus East Mutual Water Company, which fought a plan to cut groundwater pumping there by about two-thirds. Read that story. The company’s 2024 federal tax return lists her as a director and Brandon Angle as treasurer. Its 2023 return listed Ty Angle as treasurer.

That puts the Angles on both sides of the ledger. Members of the family have helped run the water company that, under Alexandra Duarte’s signature, argued against cutting east-side pumping. Their businesses, along with Byrd’s ranch and family, have given $26,000 to her Senate campaign.

The same fight has played out at the irrigation district. In 2023, the board created a 20-year Groundwater Replenishment Program to sell surplus surface water in wet years to subbasin water users who rely only on groundwater, and set the price at $200 an acre-foot. Byrd has pushed to sell that water to east-side farmers for $60 an acre-foot, The Valley Citizen reported. At the December meeting, he said, “You think I didn’t want that water for 60 bucks an acre-foot?” according to The Bee. At the same meeting, Frobose said Byrd could have signed up for the program to use district water outside its boundaries, the minutes show.

Alexandra Duarte’s water company has looked to the same program. In January 2025, its general manager told the Stanislaus County Water Advisory Committee that some of its growers “may get future access through MID’s groundwater replenishment program,” according to the meeting minutes. Her presentation listed “MID 20 Year Program” under “Surface Water Supplies.”

The message and the record

On the campaign trail, the message is affordability. Alexandra Duarte’s mailers promise cheaper groceries by “securing water for farms,” and John Duarte’s quotes on Giorgi’s mailers attack MID “rate increases.” But the August 2025 letter she signed urged Modesto to run its river-water treatment plant harder and supply Waterford, Oakdale, Salida and Riverbank, so cities would pump less groundwater. When Turlock and Ceres made the same switch, their water bills rose sharply. Read that story.

Follow the money

Timeline

• 2011: Larry Byrd is first elected to the MID board.
• 2015: AB La Grange Ranch is registered with the county, listing Byrd, his brother and an Angle partnership.
• Sept. 11, 2020: John Duarte gives $1,000 to Byrd’s re-election campaign.
• 2022–2024: Angle family members and Byrd give about $65,000 to John Duarte’s congressional committees.
• Aug. 2023: MID sets $200 an acre-foot for surplus water sold to growers outside the district.
• Jan. 29, 2025: The water company Alexandra Duarte helps lead tells a county committee its growers may get water through that MID program.
• July 8, 2025: At an MID board meeting, a member of the public, citing satellite imaging, says Byrd’s ranch may be using district water outside the district.
• Aug. 8, 2025: Alexandra Duarte, as the water company’s president, signs a letter urging cities to rely less on groundwater.
• Sept. 12, 2025: MID board president Robert Frobose says the district will conduct “a thorough and independent examination of the allegations.”
• Sept. 19, 2025: AB La Grange Ranch makes its first contribution to Alexandra Duarte’s campaign.
• Dec. 16, 2025: The inquiry ends in a 2-2 vote, with Byrd voting. John Duarte calls it a “witch hunt.”
• Jan. 27, 2026: Alexandra Duarte’s water company calls the plan to cut east-side pumping “discriminatory.”
• Aug. 18–20, 2026: Angle businesses give Giorgi $30,000; Byrd’s ranch and AB La Grange give $1,000 each.
• Aug. 27, 2026: John Duarte gives Giorgi $2,500.
• Sept. 5, 2026: Christopher Angle gives Alexandra Duarte $5,000.

Alexandra Duarte, a Republican, is running for California State Senate District 4 on the Nov. 3, 2026, ballot.