The Fresno Bee, July 25, 2019, article excerpted

Former congressman David Valadao hasn’t yet officially announced he’s running to get his old seat back, but he has announced a fundraiser for his campaign in Washington, D.C.

Valadao, a Republican from Hanford, used to occupy the seat of Rep. TJ Cox, D-Fresno, until Cox unseated him by a margin of less than 1,000 votes in the 2018 election.

Rumors about Valadao running again have circled for months, and last week he filed with the Federal Election Commission to run for the seat. But he has still declined to weigh in publicly on whether he’s running.

Vern Costa, a representative for Valadao, was still unwilling to say if Valadao was running or not.

“David Valadao has been encouraged to run by folks throughout the Central Valley. People here appreciate his effectiveness and bipartisan leadership. David is the real deal and I know he is strongly considering running,” Costa said. “The fact is, we haven’t had much of a representative the last seven months. TJ Cox seems to spend more time dealing with his own scandals and corruption than he does representing the district.”

Torunn Sinclair, spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Cox also frequently held fundraisers in D.C.

“Per the FEC TJ Cox has held eight different fundraising events at high-end restaurants and the DCCC’s private club this year,” Sinclair said. “He’s raised more than $108,000 from these events.”