TJ Cox declares victory in nation's final Congressional contest to be decided

With only a few ballots left to be counted, it appears that Cox’s declaration, coming 22 days after the election, may soon become fact.

Cox currently leads Valadao 56,634 votes to 56,105 votes and has held onto his small lead for the past few days. Only a few votes remain to be counted in Kern County, but it appears that Cox will prevail.

The Cox-Valadao contest has generated buzz throughout political circles in the nation as most news outlets early on awarded the early victory to Valadao.

“I am elated to announce that we have won the election for California’s 21st Congressional District,” declared Cox in a Wednesday press release. “Voters across the district resonated with our message of expanding health care, creating good jobs, and fighting for our families’ futures. I am truly humbled to have received so much support. I am honored to be the next representative serving all of our communities throughout the 21st District. Now that the election is over, it’s time to get to work.”

As expected Valadao did well in Kings County, his home district. The three-term congressman tallied about 62 percent of the Kings County vote compared to 38 percent for Cox. Valadao had 18,661 votes to Cox’s 11, 470 totals.

However, Cox crushed Valadao in Kern County where as of Nov. 26, he easily beat Valadao, compiling 61.08 percent of the vote, limiting his opponent to 38.92 percent. Cox accumulated nearly 9.000 more votes than Valadao.

In Fresno County, it was tight with Valadao barely winning, picking up 20,447 votes to Cox’s 19,871.