CBS News initiatives that State Assembly member Vince Fong, a California legislator backed by former President Donald Trump, has captured a special election to full the rest of the term of deposed former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which runs by means of January.
Fong — a McCarthy protege who additionally had the former speaker’s endorsement — defeated fellow Republican and Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux on Tuesday within the twentieth Congressional District within the state’s Central Valley farm belt.
With 65% of votes counted Tuesday night, Fong was main Boudreaux by a margin of 60% to 39%.
Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register through Getty Images
McCarthy resigned last year after being ousted in the House. His dramatic fall — he’s the one speaker in historical past to be voted out of the job — left behind a messy race to succeed him that uncovered rivalries inside his personal get together. He has labored behind the scenes to promote Fong’s candidacy — a political motion committee linked to McCarthy steered over $700,000 into the twentieth District contest to increase Fong’s marketing campaign.
The special election solely covers the time remaining in McCarthy’s term. Fong and Boudreaux will reprise their contest once more in November for a full, two-year term within the district, although the winner of the special election will acquire the benefit of incumbency.
Because of Trump’s involvement, the race might be watched as a potential proxy vote on the former president’s clout as he heads towards an all-but-certain matchup towards President Biden in November.
Trump endorsed Fong in February, calling him “a true Republican.” Boudreaux’s supporters embody Richard Grenell, a former performing director of nationwide intelligence within the Trump administration, and Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove of Bakersfield, Fong’s dwelling turf.
Republicans occupy solely 11 of the state’s 52 U.S. House seats. With the district as soon as held by McCarthy remaining in GOP arms, it should give Republicans 12 seats within the state delegation and increase the get together’s fragile edge in Congress by a single vote.
There are currently 217 Republicans within the House, 213 Democrats and 5 vacancies. Those vacancies embody McCarthy’s former seat.
Some voters could be confused, since Fong and Boudreaux have already got appeared on two House ballots this yr — the March 5 statewide main for the complete House term, and the March 19 main in the special election to fill out McCarthy’s term.
The two conservative Republicans and Trump supporters occupy a lot of the identical coverage terrain. Boudreaux has been spotlighting his a long time of law-and-order expertise and is promising to harden the nation’s porous border. Fong additionally guarantees to “end the chaos” on the border with Mexico whereas prioritizing water and power wants within the farm belt.
Fong, a onetime McCarthy aide who additionally has the former speaker’s endorsement, entered the competition with benefits past endorsements from Trump and McCarthy.
Fong carried 42% of the vote within the March main election, Boudreaux almost 26%, with the rest divided amongst different candidates. Fong hails from essentially the most populous half of the district, Kern County, and he has outraised the sheriff by about 3-to-1 in marketing campaign funds, in accordance to federal information by means of the tip of March.