Why are there 2 separate elections to fill McCarthy’s seat?
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FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The March 5 primary election will decide which two candidates will square off to fill Kevin McCarthy’s congressional seat in November’s general election.
The winner of that race will win the 20th Congressional for a term of two years.
Here’s where things get interesting and a bit confusing.
McCarthy left in the middle of his term after losing his role as speaker of the house back in December of 2023.
On Tuesday voters in Kern, Kings, Tulare and Fresno counties voted for who will get the chance to serve the full term starting in January of 2025.
“It is really confusing and voters do not react well to that type of confusion. When they get messed up like that they just toss the ballots they don’t vote,” said Thomas Holyoke who is a political science professor at Fresno State.
But on March 19 there will be another special primary to determine who will serve out the rest of McCarthy’s current term.
The contest that happened on Tuesday is completely different from the race that will happen on March 19.
For that special election voters received a completely separate ballot which is causing some confusion.
“We did try to reach out, we did try to let voters in the 20th know from the start of the process that we are going to have to keep the two electrons separate,” said James A Kus, who is the Fresno County Clerk.
Kus says keeping the elections separate for who will fill the partial term and the full term is crucial because of a lack of resources.
“Out in the field there’s just not enough room, not enough staff to do that, that’s why we couldn’t allow in-person voting for the special election during the primary election,” said Kus.
If there is a clear winner in the March 19 contest, that candidate will soon be seated to serve out McCarthy’s term.
If things are still murky, there is the chance of another contest to serve out the remainder of McCarthy’s term which could happen in May.
