Vince Fong wins California runoff election to finish Kevin McCarthy’s congressional term

Assemblyman Vince Fong will complete former Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s term after defeating Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux in Tuesday’s runoff election for California’s 20th Congressional District.

Fong, R-Bakersfield, will serve in his former boss’ seat for about seven months — and potentially longer, depending on the outcome of November’s election.

The Associated Press called the race for Fong at 8:17 p.m. Pacific time on Tuesday. He had 60.5% of the votes with an estimated 83% of them counted, per the AP. Boudreaux, also a Republican, had 39.5% of the votes.

Fong was McCarthy’s chosen successor in the area that has been represented by powerful GOP congressmen for more than four decades.

McCarthy left Congress in December two months after his ouster as Speaker of the House. Speaker was a role he long coveted and held for nine months.

McCarthy won the seat in 2006 ahead of the retirement of his former boss, retiring Rep. Bill Thomas, then chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which writes legislation on tax policy, trade, Social Security and other big issues. Thomas had endorsed McCarthy.

Fong worked for both. He served as McCarthy’s district director for almost a decade and began his political career as an aide to Thomas, who was first elected to Congress in 1978.

In Sacramento, Fong has represented the area that’s now the 32nd Assembly District since 2016 and is the top Republican on the powerful budget committee. He’ll resign his seat to serve in Congress.

Boudreaux, 57, has been Tulare County Sheriff for over a decade, having started in law enforcement there as a cadet when he was 19. He is currently president of the California State Sheriffs’ Association.

The two Republicans are expected to face each other again in the Nov. 5 general election for a two-year term to begin in January 2025.

Tonight’s result was expected. Fong had the support of McCarthy allies and his home base is in Kern County, where most of the voters in California’s 20th live.

California’s 20th is the state’s most heavily GOP congressional district, where 47% of registered voters are Republican and 27% are Democrats. It covers parts of Kern, Kings, Fresno and Tulare counties.

The May 21 runoff was expected to have low turnout. By Monday, less than 15% of mail-in ballots had been returned, according to California’s secretary of state.

Mail-in ballots postmarked and sent on or before Election Day that are delivered by May 28 will be counted. California’s secretary of state must certify election results by or on June 28.

But Fong can be sworn in far sooner than that deadline, even within a week, if California’s secretary of state confirms there is a member-elect in a letter to the House Clerk that quickly to start the process.

Fong will boost the GOP’s razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives.