BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Republican Rep. Vince Fong handily won reelection to the 20th Congressional District on Tuesday night, raking in 65% of the vote as of the latest count.
The win wasn’t a big surprise given his Republican rival-turned-endorser in the race, Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, suspended his campaign earlier this year. Fong was the incumbent after winning a special election to fill Kevin McCarthy’s vacant seat in May.
“Throughout different elections to fill this seat over the past year, it remains truly humbling to me that the one constant has been that the voters of our district put their faith in me each and every time, and I will not let them down,” Fong said in a Nov. 5 statement.
But this wasn’t the only race where Fong was a contender: in fact, he is also on track to win Caliofrnia’s 32nd Assembly District. State law says Fong can’t hold both offices simultaneously.
As of Thursday morning, Fong had 60% of the Assembly district’s vote, or about 75,000 ballots. His opponent, Bakersfield City Councilman Ken Weir, had just shy of 50,000 votes – despite an endorsement from Fong.
For his part, Fong insists the only race he’s running is for the congressional seat. Neither candidate returned a KVPR comment request.
What happens next?
Fong’s name landed on certain voters’ ballots twice following a controversial ruling from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The three-judge panel decided Fong’s name would remain on the ballot for McCarthy’s vacant position, even though Fong had already filed for reelection to his Assembly seat – but it didn’t allow him to actually remove his name from the Assembly race.
The appellate court’s ruling hinged on the placement of a comma in a century-old statute in the state’s election code. Fong’s lawyers argued the older statute no longer applied after the state moved to an open-primary system, in which the top-two vote-getters proceed to the general election regardless of their political party affiliation.
“We acknowledge that anomalous results could flow from the conclusion we reach today,” Judge Larue Earl wrote in her April ruling. “If the Legislature wants to prohibit candidates from running for more than one office at the same election, it is free to do so.”
Lawmakers have already worked to update the election code to avoid a similar situation in the future. Assembly Bill 1784 allows people to withdraw their candidacies before certain deadlines and under certain circumstances.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber previously told KVPR Fong must officially relinquish one of the seats, which would then trigger a special election for the vacated position.
Weber said the special election could happen as late as June 2025; it would be the fifth election in the region since McCarthy’s January resignation.
“During that interim, there would likely be no representation from that area in the assembly,” Weber said.
Weir hasn’t publicly disclosed whether he plans to continue campaigning for the Assembly seat. With more time to mount campaigns, it’s possible a special election could attract more candidates. But an election dedicated solely to the state’s 32nd District would also likely mean far fewer voters participate.
Turnout plummeted 60% in May’s special election for the 20th District seat after McCarthy’s resignation, compared to the November 2022 midterm election.
If Fong resigns from the Assembly as predicted, Weber’s office says Tulare and Kern counties will likely be on the hook for the cost of next year’s special election.
