TJ Cox, relishing District 21 vote lead, doesn't waste any time, travels to Washington DC

TJ Cox, since election day, has been chipping away at three-term Congressman Valadao’s election night 5,000 advantage. As of Friday (Nov. 30), Cox held a 590-vote lead as just about all the votes have been counted in Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Kern counties.

The Fresno Democrat has hit the ground running, and he traveled to Washington D.C. on Tuesday where he joined the majority’s caucus to vote for its leadership, including electing California Representative Nancy Pelosi as the next Speaker of the House – which he supported.

It’s been a long, satisfying week for Cox. “We found out Monday night that we were in the lead,” he said. “We were here (Washington) Tuesday morning. The entire week was taken up with new members voting for caucus leadership.”

As for Pelosi, Cox indicated that he has met with Pelosi many times. “She’s focused on the issues that matter to the people of the Central Valley: more health care access, accountability, job creation, and clean energy.”

Trailing by 5,000 votes on election night normally might leave an uncomfortable feeling in one’s gut, but Cox said he was always confident. “I was still very optimistic,” he recalled. “We had put together this campaign on a hope and a plan. We had a strategic plan. We knew what votes to after and we did. We simply knew how many votes were out there." And in the days that followed the election, his optimism was confirmed when the votes started going his way.

While Cox and his campaign did their homework, the incumbent, said Cox, failed to deliver. “David Valadao didn’t even provide a candidate’s statement on the ballot. We had no public debates. He refused to do any public forums. When he visited people, he heard they were looking for someone to represent them in Congress, not someone who voted with Donald Trump 99 percent of the time.”

Cox handsomely won Kern County, where most of the 21st District votes resided. He narrowly lost in Fresno County while Kings County voters clearly preferred Valadao, giving the incumbent congressman 18,661 votes to Cox’s 11,470.

How will Cox convince Kings County voters that he will work on their behalf? “I will keep doing what I was doing in the private sector,” he insisted. Cox, a trained engineer, says he’s created jobs in the Valley and helped bring health care to low-income areas through his work with the Central Valley New Market Tax Credit Fund. He’s helped fund health care centers and worked to create hundreds of jobs.

“We are going to deliver more water, not just for the ag community but for our cities. I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing, delivering real results,” he said.

Cox, has indicated he’s pushing for spots on some House committees, including Agriculture, Appropriations, Transportation, and Veterans. “It’s a mad scramble. There are some 90 new members.”