2018 Election Results
CA-21: TJ Cox Reverses Tally to Declare Victory
Throughout the campaign, Cox was on the offensive, blasting the GOP incumbent’s votes for the unpopular Republican tax reform bill, and the even more unpopular American Health Care Act (ACHA) or “Trumpcare.”
UPDATED November 28: Late ballot counting continues to show Democratic Party candidate TJ Cox with a slight lead (currently 506 votes) over GOP incumbent David Valadao. Cox has declared victory. The following story was written when election-night returns showed Valadao ahead by 4,400 votes.
California’s 21st District seemed like a plausible target to flip from red to blue in 2018 even though incumbent Republican Congressman David Valadao had beaten his Democratic challenger Emelio Huerta by 13 points in 2016. Hillary Clinton handily carried the district, and the demographics also looked good for a Democrat. The district is 71 percent Latino, a group that gave Clinton 66 percent of its vote nationwide two years ago. Republicans account for 27 percent of registered voters in CA-21, 16 points lower than Democratic registration. According to the political forecasting site FiveThirtyEight, Valadao voted with Trump policies nearly 99 percent of the time.
Read More Election Coverage
Despite those headwinds for Valadao, and visits from Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Democratic challenger TJ Cox fell far short. By early Wednesday, Valadao claimed 53.7 percent of the vote to 46.3 percent for Cox with provisional and mail-in ballots still to be counted.
Throughout the campaign, Cox was on the offensive, blasting Valadao’s votes for the unpopular Republican tax reform bill, and the even more unpopular American Health Care Act (ACHA) or “Trumpcare.”
Valadao claimed the Republican tax plan saved families thousands of dollars in a district with a far lower median household income than California as a whole. He also touted his willingness to break from Trump in a failed attempt at immigration reform earlier this year.
Valadao’s strong ties to the district may have given him an advantage. A dairy farmer, small-business owner and son of Portuguese immigrants, Valadao grew up in the district, and has given unwavering support to agribusiness interests, a very important position in this largely agricultural region. Cox, an engineer who has never held elected office, owns a home just outside the district in Fresno and earlier in the election cycle claimed a home in suburban Washington, D.C. as his principal residence.
Capital & Main
The Author of California’s Failed Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill Describes What Went Wrong
Firings, Evictions, Broken Promises: How Yellowstone Tour Guides Are Building Momentum for Change
Measuring COVID’s Effect on a Generation of Young Californians
Clock Is Ticking on California’s Landmark Plastics Reduction Legislation
Scamsters Posing as ICE Officials Are Defrauding U.S. Families of Asylum Seekers
Capital & Main Wins Seven First Place SoCal Journalism Awards Including Online Journalist of the Year
California’s Plan to Close the Digital Divide Hits Industry Roadblocks
‘Crossing the Line’ to Get an Abortion
Creating a Barbershop to Address Black Men’s Health Needs
Face Time With the Homeless
Why Are So Many Firefighters Still Struggling to Afford Housing?
Inside the Fight to Force Makers of Plastic Trash to Clean Up Their Mess
Oxnard Residents Fight Port’s Plan to Store Thousands of Cars Close to Their Beach
AT&T Was April’s Top Donor to Lawmakers Who Voted to Overturn the Election
A New Muckraking Newspaper From Ralph Nader Takes On Congress and Its Dirty Secrets
Sports Teams Fly on Same Private Jets Hired to Deport Immigrants
In California, It Barely Pays to Take Care of Elders in Need at Home
Why Is Eco-Conscious California Spending Millions to Support Natural Gas?
Scamsters Posing as ICE Officials Are Defrauding U.S. Families of Asylum Seekers
Its Workers Keep Unionizing But Does Starbucks Smell the Coffee?
Excavating the Future: Roberto Flores on Community Self-Determination
Excavating the Future: Odilia Romero on How Indigenous Communities Confronted COVID
Excavating the Future: Author Erin Aubry Kaplan on Gentrification in Black Los Angeles
Excavating the Future: Black Lives Matter’s Melina Abdullah on Redefining Public Safety
Excavating the Future: ‘We Belong on Both Sides of the Border’ Says MacArthur Fellow
The Aftermath of The Huntington Beach Oil Spill
Thousands March to Protect Voting Rights
Visual Black Justice Calls Out Racism During Derek Chauvin Trial
America on Trial
Echo Park Lake Homeless Encampment Faces Eviction
-
EnvironmentJune 21, 2022Why Are So Many Firefighters Still Struggling to Afford Housing?
-
Politics & GovernmentJune 18, 2022Inside the Fight to Force Makers of Plastic Trash to Clean Up Their Mess
-
EnvironmentJune 22, 2022Oxnard Residents Fight Port’s Plan to Store Thousands of Cars Close to Their Beach
-
Politics & GovernmentJune 9, 2022AT&T Was April’s Top Donor to Lawmakers Who Voted to Overturn the Election
-
Latest NewsJune 10, 2022A New Muckraking Newspaper From Ralph Nader Takes On Congress and Its Dirty Secrets
-
ImmigrationJune 14, 2022Sports Teams Fly on Same Private Jets Hired to Deport Immigrants
-
State of InequalityJune 16, 2022In California, It Barely Pays to Take Care of Elders in Need at Home
-
EnvironmentJune 7, 2022Why Is Eco-Conscious California Spending Millions to Support Natural Gas?