Californians voted to advance Republican state Assemblyman Vince Fong during Tuesday's special election to replace the former House. Spokesman Kevin McCarthy, who was overthrown last year.
Fong, a former McCarthy aide backed by both McCarthy and the former President Trump, faced Republican Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux at the polls Tuesday.
Because both candidates are Republicans, the GOP will have 218 seats, compared to 213 for the Democrats, taking into account four vacancies. In California's jungle primary system, the top two vote-getters advance to the general election.
Fong, who also won the most votes in the March primary, will serve out the remainder of McCarthy's term until he fights Boudreaux again in November in the general election.
TRUMP SUPPORTS KEVIN MCCARTHY'S FORMER AIDE VINCE FONG TO FILL VACANCY SEAT AS HIS FORMER AIDES BACK FONG'S OPPONENT
Assemblyman Vince Fong (R) advanced in California's special runoff election on Tuesday, beating Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux (L). (Carolyn Cole / ContributorMediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images / Contributor/)
Fong and Boudreaux advanced to Tuesday's runoff after a March special election in which they emerged as the top two candidates, with neither gaining more than 50% of the vote to determine a victor. By November, voters in the district will have voted for either candidate a total of three times.
McCarthy resigned of the House in December, three months after he was ousted from the presidency.
The district, which runs through the Central Valley farm belt, including parts of Bakersfield and Fresno, is the most heavily Republican House seat in heavily Democratic California. Trump largely won CA-20 in 2020 and McCarthy represented the district from 2007 until his resignation in late 2023. In February, Trump called Fong “a true Republican.”
Boudreaux's supporters include Ric Grenell, former acting director of national intelligence under Trump, and Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove of Bakersfield, Fong's hometown.
TULARE COUNTY SHERIFF MIKE BOUDREAUX ON THE CARTEL-STYLE HIT THAT KILLED SIX PEOPLE
Despite winning Tuesday's special election, California Assemblyman Vince Fong will face Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux (above) again in November in the state's general election. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Trump's participation in the race presents it as a litmus test of the former president's political relevance as he presumably prepares for a possible rematch against President Biden in November.
“I am proud to join the California Republican Congressional delegation and give Vince Fong my full and complete endorsement!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “Vince was one of six Republicans in the State Assembly who stood with me and rejected the second impeachment hoax. In Congress, Vince will work with me to grow the economy, cut taxes, reduce burdensome regulations, defend American energy and Protect and defend the Second Amendment, which is under siege by the radical left.”
HOUSE VOTES TO REMOVE KEVIN MCCARTHY AS PRESIDENT IN HISTORIC FIRST
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted in October and resigned from office in December. (Getty Images)
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In October, the House of Representatives voted to impeach McCarthy, the first time in history that the top House leader was removed from office.
Fox News Digital's Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
