Early returns show Tacherra with surprise lead over Costa in 16th Congressional District
Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, was supposed to be headed to an easy victory in California’s 16th Congressional District Tuesday night. But that wasn’t the case.
Costa was widely expected to win handily against Republican opponent Johnny Tacherra, a dairyman from Burrel, with even many Republicans saying the race wasn’t much of a contest.
But as of 10:25 p.m., according to California Secretary of State Debra Bowen’s office, Tacherra was ahead of Costa, just barely, with 51 percent of the vote to Costa’s 49 percent. The difference was less than 200 votes, with 319 of 463 precincts reporting.
The 16th Congressional District covers all of Merced and parts of Fresno and Madera counties.
Tacherra bested four other Republican challengers in the June primary to face Costa, seeking his sixth term in Congress, in the November election. Costa also faced a single Democratic challenger in June.
During the campaign, Costa touted his lifelong residency in the Central Valley and his connection to farmers. He grew up on a dairy farm in the Fresno area.
He also has supported high-speed rail and said that he has worked to help the Valley leverage its pain from the drought into additional water supplies. And he supported the Affordable Care Act.
Election reporting records show that Costa raised $1.2 million this election cycle, far outpacing Tacherra, who maintained that he knew going in that Costa would have far more money. Tacherra also ran against Costa in 2012, but did not make it through the primary election.
Tacherra maintained that voters wanted a fresh perspective in Congress, and that it was time to show Costa that door. Though he didn’t have the war chest Costa did, Tacherra said he would make up for it by contacting people directly. He advocates repealing the Affordable Care Act, and improving veterans’ access to care. However, he agreed with Costa that water was the top priority for the region.
Among Costa’s contributors were the Western United Dairymen, the Dairy Farmers of America and the California Dairies Federal political action committee.
Tacherra is a dairy farmer. But he was undaunted by the perceived slight.
“I knew when I got into this Costa would have the money,” Tacherra told The Fresno Bee in September. “What trumps money? It's being face-to-face with the people.”
Costa also again won support from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, an influential business organization that is a major federal-level political player – and mostly backs Republicans.
Of the major political prognosticators, only the nonpartisan Cook Political Report considers the 16th District competitive. But even Cook hedged its bet. Though on the watch list, Cook referred to the district as a likely Costa victory.
This story was originally published November 4, 2014 at 10:40 PM with the headline "Early returns show Tacherra with surprise lead over Costa in 16th Congressional District."