Ex- Illinois candidate Cox wins spot in Calif. runoff
LOS ANGELES — John Cox, a Republican business owner who has tried and failed for nearly two decades to win elected office, snagged a spot in the November runoff for California governor with the help of President Donald Trump, but that support could hurt him in the winner- take- all race with Democrat Gavin Newsom.
Cox got about a quarter of the votes counted so far in Tuesday’s election to easily outdistance former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for second to Newsom, who won by a comfortable margin. Cox got a tweeted endorsement from Trump two weeks ago.
Because of California’s “jungle primary,” the top two finishers — regardless of party — advance to a runoff in November.
Newsom, the state’s lieutenant governor and former mayor of San Francisco, had said during the primary he preferred a Republican opponent in the fall. He told supporters Tuesday that he relishes a fight with Cox, whom he called “a foot soldier” for Trump’s war on California.
Meantime, Cox made it clear he’ll be fighting Newsom on taxes and California’s high cost of living.
“It wasn’t Donald Trump who made California the highest tax state in the country,” Cox told enthusiastic supporters. “It was Gavin Newsom and the Democrats.”
Cox, 62, became wealthy as a lawyer, accountant, wealth manager and investor in the Chicago area. He now owns thousands of apartment units in the Midwest.
In the early 2000s he ran unsuccessfully for a string of offices in Illinois — U. S. House, twice for U. S. Senate, and Cook County recorder of deeds, a job he wanted to see eliminated. He also ran for Illinois GOP chairman.
In his 2004 Senate run, he shared a crowded debate stage with then- state Sen. Barack Obama and sparred one- on- one with the future president over the Iraq war. He later ran for president in 2008 and fought unsuccessfully to get into Republican debates before dropping out, but his name appeared on the ballot in several states.
He bought his house in Rancho Santa Fe, outside San Diego, in 2007 and moved there full- time in 2011, according to spokesman Matt Shupe.