A California appeals court ruled Tuesday that Vince Fong, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy‘s chosen successor, can remain on the House ballot while also running for the state Legislature, sidestepping a legal and political headache for the Republican candidate.
Fong’s place competing in two races was prompted by McCarthy’s abrupt retirement announcement last December, which came weeks before the candidate filing deadline. That set off a cascade of political maneuvers and launched a legal battle over a novel election predicament of Fong competing in two races at once.
Fong placed first in March’s regular primary for a full two-year term as well as a special election to fill out the rest of McCarthy’s term, establishing him as the clear front-runner. He also won 100 percent of the vote in an uncontested Assembly race.
But Democratic Secretary of State Shirley Weber challenged that outcome by arguing Fong should not have been allowed to run for Congress, giving the Third Circuit Court of Appeals a choice between permitting Fong’s dual candidacy or upending the election mid-cycle.
The legal fight has inspired Sacramento lawmakers to introduce bills that seek to avoid a repeat by tweaking California’s election process.
A three-judge panel upheld a lower court’s December decision by opting to let Fong stay the course. During oral arguments last week, appeals judges appeared amenable to an argument from Fong’s attorney that it would be undemocratic to intervene in a House race after the primary results were already settled.
Weber’s office argued that letting Fong run in two races at once could allow “absurd” results like one candidate running for every House seat in California. Judge Laurie Earl dismissed that as a purely hypothetical scenario in her Tuesday ruling.
“We acknowledge that anomalous results could flow from the conclusion we reach today,” she wrote. “But whatever we think of the Secretary’s example in the abstract, that is not what happened in this case.”
Fong lauded the ruling in a statement as a “victory for the voters of the 20th Congressional District, who have now had their right to select the candidate of their choice upheld by the courts, twice.”
“This decision puts to end the unnecessary and ill-advised campaign in Sacramento to deprive voters of a real choice in this election,” Fong said.
