A close race in California’s 21st Congressional District has been called, with the Decision Desk on Thursday declaring challenger David Valadao (R) managed to unseat incumbent Rep. TJ Cox (D).
While the contest is pending official certification, it appears Valadao managed to avenge his narrow 2018 loss to Cox, who won their mid-term clash by less than 900 ballots, largely on the strength of late-arriving mail-in ballots. At the time, Valadao attributed his loss to ballot harvesting, which is when party operatives collect and deliver mail ballots, a controversial practice whose supporters portray as a voter service that boosts turnout, while detractors denounce it as rife with opportunity for election fraud.
