Vince Fong, Mike Boudreaux head to May election to finish Kevin McCarthy’s congressional term

Voters in former Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s congressional district will decide between two Republicans twice this year to succeed him.

Assemblyman Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield, and Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux will advance to a May 21 runoff in the special election to finish McCarthy’s term, the Associated Press predicted. The two will also compete in the Nov. 5 general election for a full term of their own.

The AP said Tuesday that Fong, McCarthy’s chosen heir, would advance in the special election.

“I am grateful that voter have once again chosen experienced, common-sense leadership to represent the Central Valley in Washington D.C.,” Fong said in a statement Wednesday morning.

The AP predicted around 4:33 p.m. Friday that Boudreaux would join Fong in May.

“I am honored to continue making the case for a safer Valley in Congress rooted in real experience,” Boudreaux said in a statement Wednesday morning.

With an estimated 99% of votes counted in the March 19 primary, Fong had 42.3% and Boudreaux had 25.8%. The next closest contender, Bakersfield teacher Marisa Wood, a Democrat, had 22.6%.

The winner of the May runoff will be sworn in nearly immediately to complete McCarthy’s unfinished term, which ends in January 2025. McCarthy, 59, retired in December after his ousting as Speaker of the House.

In California’s special elections, if a candidate gets a majority of votes in the primary, they win outright. If not, there’s a runoff between the top two vote-getters.

California’s 20th — the state’s most heavily GOP congressional district, where 47% of registered voters are Republican and 27% are Democrats — grabs portions of Fresno, Tulare, Kings and Kern counties.

What happened in the March 5 primary? Who are the candidates?

Results from the March 19 special election mirrored those of the March 5 primary.

Fong and Boudreaux will advance to the November election for a full two-year term that begins in January 2025, the AP projected in mid-March.

Fong, 44, served as McCarthy’s district director for almost a decade before his election to the Assembly. Born in Bakersfield, Fong started his political career as an aide to former Republican Rep. Bill Thomas, McCarthy’s predecessor. He got former President Donald Trump’s endorsement on Feb. 20 and again on Sunday for the special election.

Boudreaux, 56, has been Tulare County Sheriff for over a decade. Currently president of the California State Sheriffs’ Association, he has worked in Tulare County law enforcement since age 19 and has earned several key local endorsements.

Results in either race won’t be official for a while. California’s secretary of state must send a certified list of May 21 candidates by or on April 2. Secretary of State Shirley Weber, California’s chief elections officer, will certify results from the March 5 primary on April 12.

Facing a Democrat in May and November for the state’s reddest congressional district would have made it easier for a Republican to win. A GOP-funded committee affiliated with McCarthy allies spent more than $650,000 before March 5 to try to elevate Fong and Wood over Boudreaux.

Does Fong’s candidacy face a legal challenge?

Before April 12, Weber hopes that a state appeals court will disqualify Fong as a congressional candidate because he was on the March 5 ballot for both the 20th Congressional and 32nd Assembly District, which he currently represents.

Her challenge does not apply to the special election.

Fong ended up on the March 5 ballot for both thanks to a messy game of succession.

McCarthy announced his retirement two days before California’s electoral filing deadline. Since McCarthy, the incumbent, was not running, the filing deadline for California’s 20th was extended until Dec. 13. Fong originally declined to run to succeed his former boss before the Dec. 8 deadline to qualify for his Assembly race, which he did.

State Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, who will be termed out of the Legislature come 2026 and appeared McCarthy’s likely successor, announced she would not run a few days later. Following her announcement, Fong changed his mind, announced his bid for Congress before the deadline and gathered McCarthy’s endorsement.

Weber said in December that, under elections code, Fong could neither withdraw from the Assembly race nor be on the ballot for competing offices. She said she would bar him from running in the 20th. But a Sacramento Superior Court judge granted Fong’s request to be on the ballot for the Assembly and Congress on Dec. 28. Weber, up against a deadline, included him on the certified list of candidates for both races.

At the end of January, Weber asked an appeals court to erase Judge Shelleyanne W. L. Chang’s ruling by April 12. If the court grants her request, she would block him from the Nov. 5 ballot.

Fong was uncontested in the 32nd Assembly District’s primary. There were write-in candidates.