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Votes Are Tallied, Some In The Valley Wary Of Losing Their Seats

Ezra David Romero

 

  

It was a good night for Republicans in the Valley with 21st Congressional District incumbent David Valadao declaring victory over Democrat Amanda Renteria and his Kings County colleague Andy Vidak leading over Fresno Democrat Luis Chavez in the state senate race.
 

“It was a fascinating and surprising evening in that California, you know the great blue state in the nation that’s in many ways is turning red, didn’t resist the red tide quite so much," says Fresno State political science professor Thomas Holyoke.

Perhaps the Democrat feeling the heat the most in the region is Fresno Congressman Jim Costa who is trailing behind dairy farmer Johnny Tacherra for the 16th Congressional District by less than a thousand votes.

"As a candidate you're always nervous, but everything we had on the ground told us we were doing good. So we just continued to follow through." -Valadao

“A lot of it just, you know anger directed at incumbents who were seeing as being too close to the president and Jim Costa has always been accused at being too close to the president.”

Holyoke says the lack of votes for Costa came as a surprise. But in Kings County Valadao clearly won.

“Was there ever a fear that  you weren’t going to win this thing? As a candidate you’re always nervous," Valadao says. "But everything we had on the ground told us we were doing good. So we just continued to follow through.”

And as votes keep trailing in Republicans could continue to gain a stronger foothold in the region with a new district making the Central Valley solid red.  

 

Ezra David Romero is an award-winning radio reporter and producer. His stories have run on Morning Edition, Morning Edition Saturday, Morning Edition Sunday, All Things Considered, Here & Now, The Salt, Latino USA, KQED, KALW, Harvest Public Radio, etc.
Diana Aguilera is a multimedia reporter native of Santiago, Chile. It was during her childhood in Santiago where her love for journalism sparked. Diana moved to Fresno while in her teens and is a proud graduate of California State University, Fresno. While earning her degree in journalism and minor in Latin American studies, Diana worked for the Fresno Bee. Her work as a general assignment reporter continued after college and was recognized by the California Newspaper Publishers Association. In 2014, she joined Valley Public Radio. Her hobbies include yoga, traveling and reading.
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