Mike Boudreaux halts congressional campaign against Vince Fong in Kevin McCarthy district

Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux is suspending his campaign for Congress, endorsing Rep. Vince Fong in the November election in a video released Monday.

Boudreaux announced he is dropping out on Monday — over a month after Fong, R-Bakersfield, soundly beat the Republican sheriff in the May special election for California’s 20th Congressional District by 21 percentage points.

“I’ve known Congressman Fong and worked closely with him and his team for more than a decade,” Boudreaux said in a video released Monday. “While we were on opposite sides of this campaign, at the end of the day, we’re Republicans, we’re family men, and fighters who are committed to protecting individual liberty, reducing the cost of living, and maintaining safe communities for our neighbors.”

Boudreaux said that he will spend 2024 supporting public safety-focused candidates across the San Joaquin Valley and California through a new grassroots organization called “Golden State Justice.”

Last month, Fong was sworn in to finish retired Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s term, which ends in January 2025. He gained incumbency advantage over Boudreaux ahead of the November election for a two-year congressional term to start in January.

Boudreaux’s name will remain with the new congressman’s on the November ballot, but Fong will be the only one officially running.

Boudreaux, 57, has been connected to the Tulare County sheriff’s office for almost his whole life: He started as a cadet at 19, following in the footsteps of his father, who was with the sheriff’s office for 30 years. Before becoming sheriff, Boudreaux worked in various fields, including homicide and narcotics, juvenile investigations and the SWAT team and patrol.

Boudreaux, a Republican who lives in Springville, started leading the department in 2013 when the then-sheriff had a health problem. Boudreaux then ran for sheriff and was sworn in January 2015. He was re-elected to a third term in 2022.

McCarthy left Congress following his October ousting as speaker of the House, a role he long coveted and held for nine months.

Fong, 44, was McCarthy’s chosen successor in California’s 20th. The Bakersfield Republican was once McCarthy’s district director and had the support of the ex-Speaker and his allies and donors for his congressional campaign. Until he was sworn in to the House of Representatives, Fong represented the 32nd Assembly District, having been elected in 2016.

California’s 20th, where 47% of registered voters are Republican and 27% are Democrats, covers parts of Kern, Kings, Fresno and Tulare counties. Most of the voters in the 20th are in Kern County, where Fong and McCarthy’s home base is.