Incumbent Democrat Jim Costa finalized his 16th District Congressional seat race Wednesday after rural county updates, largely the strength of challenger Johnny Tacherra, did not hold against Costa’s larger Fresno base.
The two candidates traded blows as election results began to flow in Nov. 4, with Tacherra ahead by 736 votes after Madera and Merced counties gave him the lead.
But as vote-by-mail ballots continued to roll in from Madera, Merced, and Fresno counties, the numbers dropped from Tacherra’s margin until Costa’s Fresno numbers exploded to a 700-vote lead for the five-term Democrat.
The Fresno Bee’s John Ellis reported the only chance for Tacherra, a Republican dairyman, to boot Costa from his 10 years in the Congress chair was to seek some 80 percent of votes from both Madera and Merced counties as only provisional ballots were left...