McCarthy-endorsed Vince Fong can’t legally run for Congress, California secretary of state says
Assemblyman Vince Fong cannot run to succeed Rep. Kevin McCarthy in the 20th Congressional District, California’s secretary of state announced Friday in a ruling that will almost certainly prompt a legal challenge by the Republican candidate over his status in the Central Valley election in March.
Fong, R-Bakersfield, currently represents the 32nd Assembly District but is ineligible under state law to run for Congress “because he had previously filed paperwork to run for reelection to the California State Assembly,” Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s office said in a statement released Friday afternoon.
“Mr. Fong filed his completed nomination documents for Assembly District 32 prior to the close of the December 8, 2023, filing deadline,” the statement continued. “Mr. Fong then submitted completed nomination documents for Congressional District 20 during the 5-day extension period triggered by the incumbent’s decision not to seek re-election. State law prohibits any candidate from filing nomination papers for more than one office at the same election.
“As such, the Secretary of State’s 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.”
Fong intends to sue over the decision, his campaign said in a statement.
“We fully intend to litigate this decision and will be filing a challenge in Superior Court imminently,” the statement read, in part.
The statement called the decision by Weber “an unprecedented interference in the candidate filing process.”
“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.”
Kern County spokesperson Ally Soper in a Thursday email to The Bee said the county’s counsel and registrar accepted Fong’s “properly filed paperwork for the 20th Congressional District, and pass(ed) it along to the California Secretary of State.”
Fong, in a Friday afternoon interview with The Sacramento Bee shortly before Weber’s decision was announced, was resolute about his eligibility status.
“I’m qualified as a candidate for Congress,” he said. “The secretary of state doesn’t have the authority to determine election outcomes. The voters deserve that choice. And so we’ll do whatever is necessary to ensure that the voters in our community get a real choice this election without the interference of Sacramento politicians.”
McCarthy, who has served in the House since 2007, announced earlier this month he would retire and not run for re-election in his Bakersfield district again. The decision came following his ouster as House speaker on Oct. 3.
David Giglio, a Republican who announced his intent to run for the seat before McCarthy said he’d resign, said earlier this week he would sue state election officials if they allowed Fong to run.
This story was originally published December 15, 2023 at 5:47 PM.
