POLL: Cox down 11
Turns out, being an all-around crook will do serious damage to your poll numbers. The Hill has new polling showing Congressman TJ Cox down 11 points to Republican David Valadao in CA-21.
Should have paid your taxes, TJ!
Story below. Memo here.
In case you missed it…
Ex-GOP Rep. David Valadao up 11 points over Democrat TJ Cox in California House race: poll
The Hill
Tal Axelrod
September 18, 2020
Former Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) is leading Rep. TJ Cox (D-Calif.) by 11 points in a new internal poll from the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), the top super PAC backing Republican House candidates.
The poll from CLF, released exclusively to The Hill, shows Valadao leading with 49 percent support among likely voters in California’s 21st District, compared with 38 percent for Cox. Another 9 percent remain undecided.
Both candidates have net-positive approval ratings. Forty-eight percent of likely voters say they have a favorable view of Valadao, who held the district for three terms, while 29 have an unfavorable view. Meanwhile, 41 percent view Cox favorably, compared with 38 percent who said they had an unfavorable view of him.
The California race is a rematch from 2018, when Cox unseated Valadao by under 1 point and flipped the Fresno-area seat.
Polling for the seat is scarce, though Democrats remain hopeful that Cox be able to maintain momentum from his 2018 win.
The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election handicapper, rates the race as a “toss up.”
California is set to be a top House battleground this cycle, hosting several competitive races for the lower chamber. The GOP is particularly eager to make up ground in the Golden State after ceding seven Republican held-districts to Democrats in the 2018 midterm cycle, one of which they took back in a special election in March.
The CLF poll, conducted by American Viewpoint, surveyed 400 likely voters from Sept. 8-10 and has a margin of error of 4.9 percent.