Boudreaux lags behind Fong in cash ahead of May 21 special election

What do optometrists, wholesale beer, AT&T and the National Rifle Association all have in common? They all donated to the congressional campaign of Bakersfield Assemblyman Vince Fong.

Months after he shocked the 20th Congressional District with high-profile endorsements, a strong debate performance and rise in the polls, the fiery momentum around Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux has ostensibly cooled.

According to the most recent filings released by the Federal Election Commission, Fong’s campaign reported raising 157 donations totaling more than $300,000 in March, compared to $20,000 among 22 donations for Boudreaux.

Fong has raised $1.4 million since last year — more than a million more than the sheriff — with the help of deep-pocketed leadership PACs as well as real estate groups, health care entities such as Blue Shield of California and individual donors — from Kern Community College District Trustee Romeo Agbalog and Kern County Chief Economic Development Officer Jim Damian to Bakersfield City Councilman Bruce Freeman.

Boudreaux’s campaign has been supported largely by individual donations, including his former congressional opponent, Fresno businessman Kyle Kirkland. Kirkland announced his endorsement for Boudreaux shortly after earning less than 5% of the vote in the March 19 primary election.

Boudreaux has thrown some money toward advertising — mainly through radio and ads in Ag Source Magazine — but his expenses are dwarfed by Fong, who has spent more than $500,000 on television ads since January 2023.

Neither Boudreaux, nor his campaign, responded to requests for comment. On his X social media page, the longtime lawman reaffirmed in a video post his strong stance on border security and aid to the Israeli military. A March 30 ad positions the sheriff at the U.S.-Mexico Border, glad-handing Border Patrol and former President Donald Trump. With his narration playing, the video depicts a long track of migrants walking along the desert, carrying pillows and trash bags.

“Iran’s reckless attack on Israel, in consultation with Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi terrorists, is not only a direct attack at destabilizing the Middle East, but threatening America’s national security,” Boudreaux wrote.

Fong, meanwhile, on his social media page posted criticism of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “fiscal mismanagement,” speaking to the state’s continued negotiations to solve its $27.6 billion deficit.

“Under Gov. Newsom, California went from a $98 billion surplus to declaring a 'fiscal emergency' with massive deficits in a few short years,” Fong wrote in a May 10 post on X.

As the top two vote-getters in the March 19 special election, Fong and Boudreaux, both Republicans, will face off in a general race on May 21. The winner will serve until Jan. 3, 2025, the remainder of former Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s term. Regardless of that outcome, the two will compete again in the November general election for the full term.

With more than 66,000 votes — 42% of the ballots — earned in the March 5 primary, Fong is regarded by many as the front-runner for the congressional seat in either race. With a decision by California Secretary of State Shirley Weber to abandon her effort to remove Fong from the congressional ballot, Boudreaux remains the only obstacle in the assemblyman’s path.

When asked how he’s spent the final weeks of the campaign, Fong said it “hasn’t been taken for granted,” adding that he’s hit the campaign trail, canvassing door-to-door and phoning in to supporters.

“This has been a long, hard-fought campaign,” Fong wrote. “I am grateful to have won the first two rounds of this fight and feel optimistic and confident that voters in the Central Valley will once again choose tested, trusted, experienced leadership on May 21st.”

But the two will likely compete over languorous voter base; about 34% of registered voters cast a ballot in the March 5 primary, with an even lower turnout — 26.5% — in the special election race held two weeks later.

Of the 449,000 registered voters across the four Central Valley counties represented by the 20th — Kern, Tulare, Kings and Fresno — about 51% of these are in Kern County.

In a March interview with KGET-TV 17, Boudreaux acknowledged Kern remains his toughest challenge in claiming the district.

“The biggest hurdle is going to be bringing who I am to the Kern County area,” Boudreaux told the reporter. “I’m very well-known in Tulare, Kings and Fresno County, that’s not the hurdle.”

In an effort to streamline the vote-by-mail process, Kern Elections changed its rules earlier this month to allow voters to hand in mail-in ballots without an envelope to poll workers, so long as they can provide a form of identification.

Election Day is Tuesday, May 21. Polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. For more information, visit https://www.kernvote.com/. May 28 is the last day ballots may be returned to the Kern elections office by mail postmarked on or before Election Day.

Results must be certified by the California Secretary of State by June 28.