Here’s what to know about the California special election to succeed Kevin McCarthy

Candidates hoping to serve the last seven-ish months of retired Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s term filed their paperwork last week for the March 19 special election in California’s 20th Congressional District.

California’s secretary of state sent a certified list of candidates to county elections officials on Jan. 31 so they can start printing ballots.

The special election primary election comes two weeks after the regularly-scheduled primary, where some of the same candidates are running for a two-year term to start in January 2025.

Here’s what voters should know:

Why is there a special election?

There’s a special election in California’s 20th, a solidly-red district encompassing parts of Kern, Tulare, Kings and Fresno counties, because former Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, retired from Congress on Dec. 31, 2023. But the two-year House term does not end until January 2025.

McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, left after being ousted as House speaker in October.

The seat will remain empty until the special election fills the seat. U.S. House vacancies must be filled through elections unlike in the Senate, where the governor can appoint an official before an election fills the seat.

How does a special election work?

Since the election is for this abbreviated term, the winner will be sworn into the House of Representatives almost immediately.

If a candidate gets a majority of the votes on March 19, they win outright and become the next representative swiftly.

If not, the top two vote-getters regardless of party advance to a May 21 run-off, where voters will choose candidates again. Whoever wins then will be sworn in almost immediately.

The winner of the special election will serve until Jan. 3, 2025, when this congressional term ends and the next one begins. That’s when the winner of the regularly-scheduled election — the primary is March 5 and the general Nov. 5 — will be sworn in for a two-year term.

And yes: That winner is historically is the same candidate if they run in both elections.

When will I get my ballot for the special election?

Voters in California’s 20th will get two primary ballots this year. The special election primary is March 19. There will be a separate ballot than for the March 5 primary.

All California active registered voters get ballots in the mail. People can still vote in person on March 5 and March 19.

March 5 primary: Ballots will start being sent out by Feb. 5. Drop-off locations will open Feb. 6.

March 19 primary: Ballots will start being sent out by Feb. 19. Drop-off locations will open Feb. 20.

Who is running in the special election?

Write-in candidates for the special election can still file paperwork through March 5. But these are the candidates from the secretary of state’s certified list who will be on the ballot.

California’s 20th is the state’s most Republican district.

The presumed frontrunner is Assemblyman Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield, who served as McCarthy’s district director for nearly a decade before being elected to the Legislature. Fong is running in both the special and regularly-scheduled elections, but his campaign for the two-year term faces a legal challenge by California’s secretary of state.

Other Republicans considered well-known by analysts who are running for both the special and regularly-scheduled elections are Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux and Fresno casino owner Kyle Kirkland. Democrat Marisa Wood, a Bakersfield school teacher who lost to McCarthy in the 2022 election, and Ben Dewell, a no-party-preference scientist, are running in both too.

Candidates listed for only the special election are Republican Anna Zoe Cohen, a high school employee, Democrat Harmesh Kumar, a clinical psychologist and businessman and no-party-preference candidates James V. Cardoza, a real estate photographer and David J. Fluhart, a cannabis grower.

Republicans only listed for the March 5 primary are “America First” businessman David Giglio, California City Mayor Kelly Kulikoff and former fighter pilot Matt Stoll.

Kern County tech entrepreneur Stan Ellis will be on only the March 5 ballot but has endorsed Fong. Democrat Andy Morales, a security guard, and no-party-preference candidate T.J. Esposito, a businessman, are also seeking the full term.

What is the legal skirmish over Vince Fong’s candidacy?

California’s secretary of state asked an appeals court last week to drop Fong as a congressional candidate for the November election. A Sacramento County Superior Court had said in December that the Bakersfield Republican could be on the ballot for Congress and the Assembly.

Before filing under an extended deadline as a candidate in California’s 20th, Fong qualified to run for re-election to the Assembly. The secretary of state said he could not remove himself from the Assembly race or be on the ballot for different seats under California elections code.

A Sacramento judge disagreed with the secretary of state’s decision and granted Fong’s request to run for Congress. The secretary of state, up against a deadline, included Fong’s name on the list of candidates for both California’s 20th and the 32nd Assembly district, which he currently represents.

The secretary of state asked an appeals court to erase the Sacramento judge’s ruling by April 12. If that request is granted, the secretary of state would block Fong from the November ballot.