U.S. House of Representatives
Elections 2018 Cox previously ran for the
United States House of Representatives in in the
2006 election, losing to incumbent
George Radanovich. In the
2018 elections, Cox again ran for the United States House of Representatives, this time in . Cox began this congressional bid in 2017, competing in
California's 10th district primary race against several other Democratic candidates. However, Emilio Huerta, the only Democratic challenger in the 21st district, withdrew from the race prior to the filing deadline to appear on the primary election ballot. Cox withdrew from the 10th district race to instead run in the 21st district against incumbent Representative
David Valadao. On election night, and for several days after the election, Valadao had more votes, but Cox's vote count pulled into the lead on November 26. By November 28, major news sources called the race for Cox, with Valadao conceding the race the following week. Cox's victory was considered an upset, as most election forecasters rated Valadao as the favorite. Cox won by a narrow 862 vote margin.
2020 Cox ran for reelection in 2020 against Valadao, whom he had beaten in 2018. Cox was criticized for pushing to gain preferential access into
Yosemite National Park over the July 4 weekend. In October 2020, Cox's campaign acknowledged fabricating a
tweet to make it appear as if Valadao had retweeted a message from President Trump saying "California is going to hell. Vote Trump!" Valadao defeated Cox in the election. The
Associated Press called the election for Valadao on November 27, 2020, more than three weeks after the election, and Cox conceded defeat on December 4, 2020. Cox underperformed Biden's near 11 point win margin by about 5 points, leaving Valadao with the most Democratic district of any congressional Republican according to
Cook Political Report's
Partisan Voter Index.
2022 Shortly after his loss in the 2020 election, Cox announced his intention to run for the seat again in
2022. However, on November 17, 2021, Cox endorsed
Rudy Salas removing himself from the contest.
Committee assignments •
Committee on Agriculture •
Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture •
Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research •
Committee on Natural Resources •
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (chair) •
Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife Legal troubles When Cox made an updated financial disclosure in 2019, it was discovered that he had failed to disclose business interests as a candidate in 2018. It was also discovered that Cox failed to timely pay wages owed to three employees of Constellation Mines, a company where Cox was a director until early 2019. In January 2020, the IRS placed a
tax lien on Cox for approximately $87,000 in unpaid income tax for 2016 and approximately $57,000 in unpaid income tax for 2017. Cox was also subject to a $50,000 IRS tax lien in 2017. In March 2020, Cox voted against a bill that would require members of Congress to disclose tax liens. In August 2021, state filings revealed that 35% of the spending from Cox's "VoterPAC", created with funds remaining from his campaign, went to MJTJ, LLC, an organization wholly owned by Cox that was originally created for real estate investments. VoterPAC was created to engage in voter registration. MJTJ, LLC, was reportedly illegally created for fundraising purposes. On December 15, 2025, Cox was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, with his sentence scheduled to begin on May 27, 2026. ==Electoral history==