Three Portuguese-descendants re-elected to US congress

  • Lusa
  • 5 November 2020

Devin Nunes, Jim Costa and Lori Loureiro Trahan were re-elected to the US Congress House of Representatives.

The Republican Devin Nunes and Democrats Jim Costa and Lori Loureiro Trahan were re-elected to the US Congress House of Representatives, confirming the 3 November election projections.

While Lori Loureiro Trahan held his seat for the 3rd district of Massachusetts, where he had no opponent, the Portuguese-descendant Jim Costa obtained a very large majority in California’s 16th district, winning 60.7% of the votes already counted.

According to the New York Times figures, 20% of the ballot papers are still to be counted in this district, but it is no longer possible for the Republican candidate, Kevin Cookingham, to regain the disadvantage for the Portuguese-descendant.

The same is true in California’s 22nd district, where Devin Nunes was declared the winner against Democrat Phil Arballo.

Here, the Portuguese-descendant close to Donald Trump, who led the House of Representatives’ intelligence committee in the previous legislature, won with 53.5% of the vote, when 86% of the bulletins are counted. This may be the shortest margin of victory for Nunes since he arrived at the congress in 2003, continuing the trend of 2018.

In doubt is the California 21st District race, in which Portuguese-American David Valadão is trying to regain the place he lost to Democrat TJ Cox in 2018. At the moment, with 71% of the votes counted, Valadão leads with 51.4%, a difference that in absolute terms is around three thousand votes.

However, it is possible that this race will not be certified for some time, since in 2018 the difference between the two was only a few hundred and it took weeks to count all the bulletins.

In Virginia, the attempt by the Republican Nick Freitas to take the incumbent Abigail Spanberger, in the 7th congressional district, is also very close.

The Portuguese-descendant, who is a strong supporter of Donald Trump, leads the accounts at the moment, with 50.1% against 49.9%. The difference between the two is only 924 votes and 14% of the bulletins are still to be counted.

In Virginia, the votes arriving by post by noon on 6 November will be counted, which could drag the decision on this congress seat.

In the total accounts, the Democrats should retain control of the House of Representatives, having been declared the winners in 204 districts against 188 of the Republicans. The result remains to be declared in 43 districts.