TJ Cox likely heading to Congress

SCREEN CAPTURE / ABC

Democrat TJ Cox believes he will win his congressional contest.

VIRGINIA'S REP. BOBBY SCOTT will have a fellow Filipino American serving with him in the 116th Congress of the United States.

On the other side of the country, Filipino American TJ Cox has declared victory with the narrowest of margins, 529 votes, over incumbent Republican David Valadao.

"I am elated to announce that we have won," Cox said in a statement. "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.

As the latest batch of votes from a part of Congressional District 21 that favored Valadao were counted Wednesday, Cox actually gained votes. By mid-afternoon lead, Cox was confident enough to declare victory.

The votes left still uncounted are in Fresno and Kern counties, which have consistently trended in favor of  Cox since  Nov. 6, which is why Cox declared victory before all the ballots were counted.

In his statement, Cox thanks Valadao and his family for their service for the past three terms. At press time, Valadao hasn't officially conceded with several thousand ballots still to be tallied. 

Mainstream media outlets sported headlines Wednesday afternoon declaring local businessman Cox the winner.

On election day, national media declared Valadao the winner since he had a 4,400 vote lead. As election officials began counting provisional and mail-in ballots, that lead was whittled away day by day. 

The Central Valley district, which is largely a rural district stretches from Bakersfield to Fresno, is the last contested Congressional race in the country. If the lead for Cox holds as now expected, it means Democrats will have gained 40 seats in the mid-term election.

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