Don’t count on a third-straight showdown between Former Rep. TJ Cox (D–Fresno) and Rep. David Valadao (R–Hanford) come November 2022.
After a lackluster quarter fundraising for a third bid for Congress, months removed from his exit from office, sources told The Sun that Cox was eyeing an exit from the race to challenge Valadao.
He, instead, would launch a political action committee akin to the apparatus initiated by a fellow local Blue Wave Democrat, Fresno Prosecutor Andrew Janz.
In 2019, Janz launched the Voter Protection Project, a political action committee harnessing donor contacts from his highly-pitched battle against Rep. Devin Nunes (R–Tulare) to fund contributions and independent expenditures against candidates across the United States.
Friday, one day after reporting raising one-third the sum of his past off-year quarters, Cox filed a form with the Federal Elections Commission to rename his campaign committee.
Gone is “TJ Cox for Congress.”
Say hello to “Rising Electorate PAC.“
With Cox opting against a comeback bid in 2022, Valadao currently faces two opponents: former State Asm. Nicole Parra (D–Bakersfield) and former Fresno City Council member Chris Mathys (R–Firebaugh).
Later Friday morning, the National Republican Congressional Committee – the campaign arm of House Republicans – issued a farewell to Cox via video highlighting a number of personal and business scandals:
Farewell sweet prince 🥀🥀🥀
Thanks for the memories @TJCoxCongress pic.twitter.com/pPzGxtvMMM— NRCC (@NRCC) April 16, 2021
This story will be updated.
†The author of this article was employed by Valadao during the Representative’s prior tenure in the House.
