| Christopher Nixon Cox | |
|---|---|
| |
| Official portrait, 2023 | |
| Governor of Taft | |
| Assumed office January 1, 2015 | |
| Lieutenant Governor | Ed Hernandez |
| Preceded by | Butch Otter |
| US Representative from Taft's 2nd district | |
| In office January 3, 2011 – January 1, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Irvin Longley |
| Succeeded by | Andrea Catsimatidis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 14, 1979 New York City, New York, United States |
| Political party | Unionist |
| Spouse(s) | Andrea Catsimatidis (m.2011) |
Christopher Nixon Cox (born March 14, 1979) is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician who currently serves as the Governor of Taft. A member of the Unionist Party, he is the grandson of former US President Richard Nixon.
Career[]
Christopher Nixon Cox graduated with a BS in Finance from the University of California in 2001. He started working with his father's friend, billionaire John Catsimatidis in New York. In 2005, he started attending Princeton and graduated in 2008 with a JD. It was around this time that his father, Edward F. Cox and John Catsimatidis set him up on a date with the latter's daughter, who had just turned eighteen. The two married shortly after Chris's election to congress.
House of Representatives[]
In November 2009, Christopher Nixon Cox filed to run for the US House of Representatives from Taft's 2nd district. He faced allegations of carpetbagging because he had not lived in the state of Taft since 1997. He was one of several candidates running in a progressive leaning district to unseat longtime incumbent Irvin Longley. In the June primary, Nixon Cox won the nomination, garnering 60.2% of the primary vote. He would go on to unseat Longley, winning 52.3% to Longley's 47.7%, despite the Cook Political Index rating the district as P+5. In 2012, the district was redrawn and became U+4 rated. Cox ran against lawyer J. D. Mitchells and won 58.2% to Mitchells' 41.8%. In 2014, he was re-elected against State Senator Hamza Naqvi, winning 53.6% to Naqvi's 46.4%. However, Nixon Cox resigned a few minutes before his inauguration as Governor of Taft. He then ordered Taft Secretary of State Michelle Robinson to schedule a special election for June, which was won by his wife and First Lady of Taft, Andrea Catsimatidis. Andrea Catsimatidis served four terms before seeking not to run again in 2022.
Governor of Taft[]
2014[]
In 2013, many Unionist party leaders asked the then thirty-four year old Nixon Cox to challenge incumbent Unionist Governor Butch Otter. Otter had been Governor since 2007 but had grown deeply unpopular and was adamant in running for a third term, due to Taft having no term limits. After traveling statewide and visiting all counties, Cox announced that he was going to challenge Governor Otter, whilst still running for re-election to congress. He chose former State Treasurer Ed Hernandez as his running mate.
Otter and Cox debated three times - January 2014, March 2014, and June 2014. In January, Governor Otter was polling at 55% while Cox was at 45%. By June, the polling numbers had changed to Cox at 60% and Otter at 40%. In the June primary, Cox won the nomination over Butch Otter, winning 53.2% to Otter's 46.8%. Otter then quit the Unionist party and announced that he was running as an independent. It was expected that Otter's run would mean that Cox would go on to lose the election, if the progressive nominee, State Attorney General Tom Macey won more than 50% of the vote. On election day, November 4, 2014, progressive nominee and state Attorney General Tom Macey finished first with 45.8% of the vote, compared to Cox's 40.2% and Otter's 12.7%. Due to Taft's constitutional requirement, which mandates a runoff election for statewide offices in the case that no candidate wins a majority of the vote, a runoff election was scheduled for November 25, 2014. Since Otter finished third, he was eliminated in the runoff. After his elimination, Gov. Otter endorsed Tom Macey. Macey and Cox advanced to the runoff and faced off in a last minute runoff debate on November 21. Nixon Cox would go on to win the runoff election, securing a very narrow victory of 50.01% to Macey's 49.99%. The race was not called by news networks and due to the very narrow margin, Macey filed for a recount. On December 12, the final recount was done which declared that Nixon Cox had won the election. The Supreme Court of Taft upheld the decision, after which Macey conceded.
2018[]
Nixon Cox became a popular governor, and ran for re-election in 2018. His predecessor, former Governor Butch Otter had created his own political party, People's Party of Taft and announced another third-party run for Governor. Tom Macey also announced a second run. In November, Nixon Cox was re-elected winning 50.6% of the vote to Macey's 42.5%, and Otter's 6.8%. Since Nixon Cox won a majority of the vote, a runoff was not required.
2022[]
In July 2021, Nixon Cox confirmed that he would seek a third term as Governor of Taft. He faced off against Progressive Party nominee, State Treasurer Andrea Henning, and won 57.4% to her 41.4%. While Nixon Cox was the fourth Governor in the state's history to seek a third term, he is the only one who was successful. It was widely believed that Lieutenant Governor Ed Hernandez would not seek re-election due to his age. Hernandez, who was born in 1940, said that he was more energetic at eighty-two than many fifty-two year old people.
2026[]
In an interview in October 2023, Nixon Cox confirmed that he would run for a fourth term as Governor in 2026. Nixon Cox currently sits at an approval rating of 66% and disapproval of 30%, making him the most popular Governor in the United States.
Personal life[]
Nixon Cox is married to Andrea Catsimatidis (b.1990), the daughter of billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis. Andrea gave birth to their first child, a son on June 29, 2024. He was named Richard Andre Catsimatidis Nixon Cox, nicknamed Richie.
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