Terrance John Cox (born July 18, 1963) is an American politician who served as the
U.S. representative
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
for
California's 21st congressional district
California's 21st congressional district (or CA-21) is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California. It is located in the San Joaquin Valley and includes parts of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and Tulare County, Californi ...
from 2019 to 2021. The son of
Chinese American
Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...
and
Filipino American
Filipino Americans () are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos in North America were first documented in the 16th century and other small settlements beginning in the 18th century. Mass migration did not begin until after the end of the Sp ...
parents, Cox was elected to the House of Representatives in 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he was defeated in his
2020
The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
David Valadao
David Goncalves Valadao ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American politician and dairy farmer serving as the U.S. representative for California's 22nd congressional district since 2023. His district comprises part of the San Joaquin Valley. A m ...
.
In August 2022, Cox was arrested by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
on 15 counts of wire fraud, 11 counts of money laundering, one count of financial institution fraud, and one count of campaign contribution fraud.
Early life and career
Cox was born in
Walnut Creek, California
Walnut Creek is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, about east of the city of Oakland, California, Oakland. Walnut Creek has a total population of 70,127 per t ...
to Kenneth Edward Cox and Perla DeCastro (now Davis). His father is a
chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...
professor from China. His mother was born in
Manila
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
,
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
and attended the
University of Santo Tomas
The University of Santo Tomas (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...
before immigrating to the U.S. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from the
University of Nevada, Reno
The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and prim ...
in 1986 and a
Master of Business Administration
A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...
from
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...
. He started two businesses that process nuts and also managed a community development enterprise.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2018
Cox previously ran for the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
2018 elections
The following elections occurred in 2018. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world.
Africa
*2018 Djiboutian parliamentary election 23 February 2018
*2018 Sierra Leonean general election 7 and 31 ...
, 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
David Goncalves Valadao ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American politician and dairy farmer serving as the U.S. representative for California's 22nd congressional district since 2023. His district comprises part of the San Joaquin Valley. A m ...
. He and Valadao advanced from the June 5 top-two
primary election
Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...
to the November 6 general election.
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
Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...
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
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
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
Amy Elizabeth Walter (born October 19, 1969)"Profile: Amy Walter"
Shortly after his loss in the 2020 election, Cox announced his intention to run for the seat again in
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
. However, on November 17, 2021, Cox endorsed Rudy Salas removing himself from the contest.
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.
In August 2022, Cox was arrested by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
on 15 counts of wire fraud, 11 counts of money laundering, one count of financial institution fraud, and one count of campaign contribution fraud. On December 10, 2024, Cox agreed to plead guilty to two counts of fraud and agreed to pay $3.5 million in restitution and face a possible prison sentence.
Electoral history
Personal life
Cox has four children with his wife,
pediatrician
Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their youth ...