Special election to replace Kevin McCarthy in House heads to a runoff in California

Special election to replace Kevin McCarthy in House heads to a runoff in California

The special election to replace former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is headed to a runoff after none of the candidates reached the 50% threshold on Tuesday.

California Republican Assemblyman Vince Fong, the frontrunner in the race, was unable to pocket enough votes to fend off challenges from Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux and Democrat Marisa Wood.

Now Fong and Boudreaux, both Republicans, will compete in the May 21 runoff election to fill McCarthy’s former seat for the remainder of his term. Fong secured 42% of votes compared to Boudreaux’s 24% with 98% of votes counted, according to the Associated Press.

The runoff election also means House Speaker Mike Johnson will not yet get an extra Republican vote, as he maintains a narrow 219-213 majority in the House.

ELECTION 2024: FOLLOW LATEST COVERAGE

Fong previously won the primary to replace McCarthy for a full term starting January 2025 on March 5 and is set to face Boudreaux, who came in second place, in November.

Wood, the Democrat, finished in third place with 21.3% but due to California’s jungle primary — where the top two finishers, irrespective of party affiliation, move on to the general election — is ineligible to run for McCarthy’s seat full-term.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Fong’s failure to garner enough votes in the primary comes amid Trump’s record of endorsements after a dismal 2022 midterm performance. The endorsement was meant to boost Fong among MAGA Republicans in the reliably red 20th Congressional District.

McCarthy had long supported Fong’s congressional bid to fill his former seat as the two have been allies for a long time.

Despite not receiving Trump’s endorsement, Boudreaux has run ads showing him shaking hands with the former president.

Tags

PREV

PREVIOUS

Biden goes all-out on minority outreach as his Democratic coalition weakens

President Joe Biden is pulling out all the stops to reinvigorate his winning 2020 coalition ahead of a toss-up rematch with former President Donald Trump in 2024. No minority voting bloc is a monolith, and while polling data conducted ahead of Biden-Trump round two generally show Asian, black, and Latino voters still leaning Democratic, yet […]

NEXT

NEXT UP

Chicago tax increase appears to fail after Black business owners call it a ‘migrant tax’

(The Center Square) – Chicago residents were asked during Tuesday’s primary election whether the city should change the way it assesses real estate transfer taxes on the sale of higher-valued property for the stated purpose of addressing homelessness. Voters appear to have rejected the tax increase referendum in Tuesday’s primary. Chicago already levies some of […]


Welcome Back.

Streak: 9 days i

Stories you've missed since your last login:

Stories you've saved for later:

Recommended stories based on your interests:

Edit my interests