GOP targets Filipino American Congressman's re-election bid

TJ COX

Congressman TJ Cox, center with barong tagalog, co-sponsored a resolution honoring
Filipino American History Month last year. 

California's only Filipino American member of Congress is in a fight to keep his seat representing California's 21st Congressional District. 

The Republican Party has targeted the contest as one that they could win back by pouring millions into the competitive race for the seat in Dist. 21, largely an agricultural area with a Latino majority and has a history of voting Republican, even though it went to Hillary Clinton in 2016.

The GOP sees U.S. Rep. TJ Cox vulnerable since he barely beat incumbent Republican David Valadao in 2018, eking out a victory with 862 votes. In fact, it was the last Congressional district in the country to be decided, more than a month after election daiy.

With his narrow victory in 2018, Cox became only one of two Congressmembers of Filipino descent. Virginia's Rep. Bobby Scott, the other Filipino American, has held his seat since 1993 and is a safe bet to win another term.

What's troubling for the Cox campaign is that Valadao defeated Cox by 17 points in California’s all-party primary in March. The two top vote-getters in the primary qualified for the November elections. Valadao currently holds an 11 point lead, according to local polls. We should note that those same polls also predicted a Valadao victory in 2018.

The independent polling site Five ThirtyEight calls the race too close to cal, giving Cox a 52% chance of keeping his seat, within the margin of error. If Cox were to hold on to his seat, it could be another nail-biter that would be decided weeks after election day.

Republican PACs and the GOP have been spending millions to defeat Cox with negative advertising calling him "corrupt." The largest newspaper in the district, the Fresno Bee, which endorsed Cox in 2018 is now endorsing his opponent.

Cox did have financial troubles. While Cox had to pay some back taxes that he owed, Valadao was penalized for failing to pay off workers when his dairy went bankrupt because he couldn't make his bank loans.

While in Congress Valadao went along with the GOP-dominated House, which was in the majority at the time, and voted against the Affordable Care Act. Cox favors extending and strengthening the Obama initiative offering affordable health care to all. 

Cox is one of the few registered professional engineers in Congress. In 2011, Cox founded the Central Valley NMTC Fund (CVNF), a community development enterprise that over the next 10 years invested over $130 million in projects, such as community health clinics, job-training facilities and social services centers.

Through this innovative organization, he invested in improving air and water quality by funding an innovative biomass plant and helping to develop dairy digester projects to cut methane emissions and fight climate change. He has also founded two successful nut-processing plants.

The California League of Conservation Voters endorsed Cox, calling him a "clean air advocate."

The House will most likely remain in Democratic control after the November elections, giving Cox more opportunity to pass his bills, which have emphasized the agricultural interests of his district and at the same time advocating for a cleaner and healthy environment.

Being the son of an immigrant -- his mother is from Manila -- Cox supports providing a path to citizenship for the Dreamers and DACA recipients and allowing non-citizen migrants to eventual citizenship.

“I am proud to represent the Central Valley and the many immigrant families from diverse backgrounds who call it home in Congress. Every day, the hard-working women and men of the Central Valley contribute to our local and national economy while providing for their children and families,” said Rep. Cox in urging the inclusion of health care measures 

“Regardless of their citizenship status, every person in the U.S. should have access to testing and treatment of COVID-19. By excluding them and their loved ones, it is a health risk to everyone in the Central Valley and throughout the country.”

He also co-sponsored the resolution marking October as Filipino American History Month. 

“As the first Filipino-American member of Congress from California, I am so proud to introduce this resolution to mark October 2020 as Filipino-American Heritage Month. From labor leaders to doctors, nurses, engineers, and entrepreneurs, Filipino-Americans work hard, humbly, and with humor," said Cox. 

"Filipino Americans are the fastest-growing Asian American Pacific Islander group in America. We are a vibrant thread in the rich diversity of our nation, and I’m proud to welcome every American to celebrate that diversity this month. In the years ahead, we will continue to share our creativity, our labor, our leadership, and our love of life, with all our brothers and sisters here in the Central Valley and United States."

DONATE to re-elect TJ Cox to Congress.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions. Updated Oct. 21 to correct the number of Congressional terms served by Valadao.