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.
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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.
