SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Rep. Kevin McCarthy will not be running for reelection. His retirement from congress caps off what was an eventful year for the Bakersfield native.

McCarthy’s retirement has set up a scramble to represent California’s 20th District, which encompasses the counties of Kern, Tulare and Fresno.

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Two months after he became the first Speaker of the House to be ousted from the position, McCarthy is endorsing Assemblymember Vince Fong as his replacement.

Fong has represented Bakersfield in the State Assembly since 2016. Before that, he was McCarthy’s district director for nearly a decade.

“Vince, without question, is the strongest candidate that’s indicated interest in this particular seat. He’s a prolific fundraiser… I think he’s best positioned for the seat and it would make sense that it’s his for the moment,” said Tal Eslick, a political strategist from the Central Valley.

Fong faces legal challenges because he had already filed to run for reelection for his assembly seat before filing to run for the open congressional seat. California law prohibits a candidate from appearing on a ballot for more than on race.

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“It’s been sort of a political dust storm the last couple of days,” Eslick said.

David Giglio, an “America first” Republican candidate, has filed a legal challenge to Fong’s campaign.

Giglio released a statement saying:

“If the California Secretary of State and Kern County Recorder are willing to disregard existing election laws due to what they are now claiming to be “unusual circumstances,” we will take legal action against both parties to force them to adhere to the law. No one is above the law, not the Secretary of State, the Kern County Recorder, Kevin McCarthy, or Assemblyman Fong.”

It’s unclear if Fong can legally run at this point. The Secretary of State’s office says due to the unusual circumstances, it is carefully reviewing the issue and will provide more clarity soon.

“It’s definitely a murky sort of legal place that we find ourselves in. There’s not any sort of precedent that I’m aware of,” Eslick said. “It’s probably helpful to Vince that the Kern County Registrar of Voters accepted his paperwork and signatures to be in the congressional race.”

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Another Republican candidate who is considering a run for the 20th District seat is Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreax, who made headlines in 2020 for refusing to enforce Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mask mandate.

“Anytime you have a sheriff running in a conservative seat — especially a sheriff from a dark red county — I’d say they’re immediately credible,” Eslick noted.

While questions remain about Fong’s ability to run is still up in the air, what is almost certain is a Republican will be voted to represent the 20th District, said Republican campaign consultant Cathy Abernathy.

“Kern County has been the heart of the congressional seat for 45 years, but this last redistricting flipped it and made it a north, south district… it’s very heavy republican. A Democrat couldn’t win it,” Abernathy said.

Another question that still needs to be answered is when exactly McCarthy’s last day is in office. If he resigns before Jan. 3, Newsom would have 14 days to call a special election. If he were to resign after Jan. 3, Newsom would have the option to either call the special election or keep the seat vacant until January 2025.

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