California Democrat said he was preparing for a recount, but he just conceded House race
Democrat Rep. TJ Cox conceded Friday that former Rep. David Valadao won the election for a California House seat in the San Joaquin Valley.
“Almost three years ago, I entered the race for California’s 21st District as an underdog. But we out-worked our opponent and pulled off the most stunning upset in Central Valley history,” Cox said. “Unfortunately, this year due to the coronavirus, we weren’t able to engage in door-to-door personal canvassing and the election results reflected that.”
Cox hadn’t suggested he might concede, however, in his communication with potential campaign donors. Multiple fundraising emails from Cox’s campaign after election said he needed money to prepare for a recount. His concession means that’s unlikely to happen.
“I’m desperately short of raising the $12,071 I need to prepare for a recount,” his campaign said in a fundraising email sent on November 27.
Valadao was one of four Republicans who took back House seats in the purple districts of California that Democrats won in 2018. The 21st district votes overwhelmingly Democrat in presidential elections, but has continued voting for Valadao.
The Associated Press called the race for Valadao, a Republican from Hanford, last week. But Cox said he was going to wait until all votes were counted before deciding whether to concede. In 2018, the AP had called the race for California’s 21st Congressional District early for Valadao and eventually had to retract when it was clear Cox had won by a thin margin.
But with Valadao still up by 1,500 votes a week after AP called the race, Cox’s campaign said in a statement Friday that he had called Valadao to concede the election. He also blamed the coronavirus pandemic for his loss.
Cox ended his concession statement with a dig at Valadao.
“I hope Mr. Valadao goes back to Washington humbled by his 2018 loss and has learned he can’t discount communities like Arvin, Lamont, and Mendota, places that went without visits from their congressional representative for years,” Cox said. “I hope he will indeed deliver results for the Central Valley, which desperately needs a strong advocate in Washington.”
This story was originally published December 4, 2020 at 1:56 PM with the headline "California Democrat said he was preparing for a recount, but he just conceded House race."
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