Vince Fong has only himself to blame if he cannot run to replace Kevin McCarthy | Opinion

In many respects, Vince Fong is the logical candidate to replace Kevin McCarthy in Congress.

The Assemblymember from Bakersfield has won four consecutive races to the statehouse and has valuable experience there, such as being vice chair of the important Budget Committee.

He previously worked as McCarthy’s district director and has the backing of his former boss.

Fong is a big supporter of the oil industry and agriculture, both big mainstays of Kern County’s economy.

Like McCarthy, Fong is a Republican, and the 20th Congressional District is set up as the safest seat in California for a member of the GOP. The district runs from Bakersfield and Kern County north to Tulare County, then to Clovis and the eastern side of Fresno County. A wing takes in part of Kings County and Lemoore Naval Air Station.

But, as it stands, Fong’s name won’t appear on the ballot for the congressional race. That is because he had first filed nomination papers for his Assembly candidacy in District 32. Fong then had a change of heart and filed to run for the House of Representatives. But California Secretary of State Shirley Weber disqualified Fong from the congressional race, citing California’s Election Code that prohibits a person for running in two races on the same ballot.

Fong, predictably, is upset and promises to sue Weber.. She happens to be a former Democratic state legislator from San Diego.

In a statement from his campaign, Fong called the decision by Weber “an unprecedented interference in the candidate filing process.”

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“County elections offices have full jurisdiction to qualify candidates for the ballot. The Secretary of State simply has a ministerial duty to certify the candidate lists and include all qualified candidates.”

Weber did not see it that way. In her statement, Weber said her office “has determined that Mr. Fong’s filed nomination papers for Congressional District 20 were improperly submitted. Mr. Fong will not appear on the list of certified candidates for Congressional District 20 that our office will transmit to county election officials on candidates on December 28.”

Election code is clear

It is rare that a candidate files to run in two races on the same ballot, so Fong is right when he contends Weber’s actions are unprecedented. He is the one who made it so.

In her statement, Weber cited two sections of the Election Code to defend her decision.

Section 8003 of the code dealing with nominations, says “No person may file nomination papers for a party nomination and an independent nomination for the same office, or for more than one office at the same election.”

But what if Fong wanted to quit his nomination for Assembly? Section 8800 speaks to that: “No candidate whose declaration of candidacy has been filed for any primary election may withdraw as a candidate at that primary election.”

It will be interesting to see what arguments Fong makes in his lawsuit. He gave a hint in an earlier interview when he contended Weber did not have authority over the Kern County clerk to set the ballot. But the Election Code is straightforward, and typically county officers are just extensions of the state.

It used to be that candidates accepted the decisions of authorities like a secretary of state. But Fong is choosing instead to follow the Donald Trump playbook — that authority cannot be right if it goes against his wishes.

Host of candidates

This is all the result of McCarthy announcing earlier this month that he would resign from the seat he has held since first winning the election in 2006. He became speaker of the House in January, the prize political job he had long sought, but saw that come to a crashing end in October when a group of far-right Republicans managed to get a motion to vacate approved.

On Tuesday McCarthy said his final day in office will be Dec. 31.

Now a host of candidates are seeking to be the next representative, among them Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, who is a Republican. Other GOP candidates are David Giglio, a business owner from Madera Ranchos; Matt Stoll, a fighter pilot who in 2022 ran in the special election to fill former Rep. Devin Nunes’ seat and in the primary against Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno; Kyle Kirkland, the owner of Fresno’s Club One Casino; and Kelly Kulikoff, the mayor of California City. Stan Ellis, a Bakersfield tech entrepreneur who in 2006 ran as a Republican for the Assembly seat McCarthy was leaving, also filed.

Democrat Marissa Wood, who ran against McCarthy in 2022, plans to campaign again. Andy Morales of Bakersfield, a recent college graduate working in private security, is another Democratic contender. Ben Dewell, an Independent who ran in 2022 as a Democrat in California’s 20th, is also running.

Weber has until Dec. 28 to finalize the candidate lists for races across the state. Unless a court directs otherwise — which seems unlikely — Fong won’t be listed for the 20th District.

That is how it should be. Fong entered the wrong race and will have to live with that decision. He has only himself to blame if he cannot run to replace McCarthy.