It was called one of the closest races in 2018, and it's looking like another close one this year. California's 21st Congressional District is once again a competitive race between incumbent T.J. Cox and David Valadao. 23ABC's Austin Westfall has the latest results from the race.
Challenger David Valadao has about a three-point lead over Representative Cox. About 3,000 votes separate the two.
District 21 represents a large portion of Southeast Bakersfield, as well as the cities of Wasco, McFarland, and Delano, along with parts of Fresno, Tulare, and Kings County.
The T.J. Cox campaign held a virtual election night party Tuesday night, while Valadao held an outdoor gathering in Lemoore. Both candidates had been saying that they did not expect a final result Tuesday night, anticipating the race being too close to call and they turned out being right.
Representative Cox and Valadao thanked their supporters Tuesday night, before calling it a day.
"Light overcomes the darkness. And hope defeats fear. We wouldn't have won our last election, nor would we be on our way to achieving my reelection without your unwavering support." said Cox.
"We knew going in that it was going to be a long night, if not a long few days. The amount of turnout, or the amount of turnout that we did get, and folks sending their ballots early, we knew it was going to be a long process to count through," said Valadao.
It is worth mentioning that these two men vied for the same seat two years ago and it ended up being one of the closest races in the country with Cox winning by just over 800 votes. This time around Valadao is currently in the lead 56% to 49%.
