Democrat TJ Cox declares victory in country's last undecided congressional race

TJ Cox.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Democrat TJ Cox declared victory on Wednesday in California's 21st Congressional District, the final undecided congressional race from the 2018 midterms.

Cox, an engineer and owner of two nut-processing companies, ran against incumbent Republican Rep. David Valadao. On the night of the election more than three weeks ago, Valadao was ahead of Cox by nearly 4,400 votes. As more ballots were counted, that lead got tighter, and on Monday, Cox surged ahead. When Kings County updated its results on Wednesday morning, it brought Cox's lead to 529 votes.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.