Costa grabs early lead in 21st Congressional race, but will have to go to November to win
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The race in the 21st Congressional District is a rerun of the 2022 race when Democratic incumbent Jim Costa bested Republican Michael Maher by 8.4 percentage points.
Tuesday night was the third time the two have faced each other. Costa, 71, has 53% of the votes while Maher has 47% after the votes were updated at 3:01 a.m. Wednesday.
The two will meet again in November to see who will represent a district that is 75.3% Latino. The district takes in most of Fresno and Visalia, and the rural cities of Sanger, Reedley, Parlier, Orange Cover, Selma, Dinuba, Exeter, Farmersville, Kingsburg, and Woodlake.
Only 44 colleagues have served longer in the House than Costa, who first took office in 2003 representing districts that have been rich in agriculture but poor in educational and income attainment.
Maher, an aviation company owner and former FBI agent, has held no elective office. He identifies, on his campaign website, the top issues as stopping inflation and price increases; presenting “new ideas” for fresh growth and opportunities; and, stopping crime.
Costa, who previously served in the California Assembly (1978-94) and Senate (1994-2002), has been a leading advocate for water.
“Water is the lifeblood of our Valley. Without water there are no jobs and no economic opportunity. Fighting to increase our water supply is my top priority and we are making progress,” Costa states in his campaign website.
Costa serves on the House Agriculture Committee.
He has pointed to his votes in support of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, and the Inflation Reduction Act, which lowers prescription drug prices and invests in domestic energy production. He has also pushed for broadband access in rural areas.
They “are among the things that I’m doing to improve the quality of the lives of the people of our Valley,” Costa told The Fresno Bee. “It’s quite an effort that I’ve been engaged in for many years. Big things are just hard to do.”
