A California appellate court ruled Republican candidate Vince Fong can legally appear on both the state and federal congressional ballots this fall.
Fong, a mentee and ex-staff member for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), is running for his boss' vacant seat.
Prior to McCarthy's resignation, Fong also filed to run for reelection in the California State Assembly, where he represents the Bakersfield area.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber (D) attempted to keep Fong out of the Congressional race, since he'd already declared for the state-level position and California law bars candidates from appearing twice. But, a judge ruled in late December that Fong could run.
The Hill has more:
Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne Chang ruled that Weber's determination was “inapplicable” to Fong and said he could run in the 20th Congressional District. Chang noted that the law only applied to independent candidates for Congress, not partisan primaries.
The 3rd Court of Appeals agreed Tuesday, ruling that since Fong was not “seeking to utilize the independent nomination process,” the statute did not apply to him.
“If the Legislature wants to prohibit candidates from running for more than one office at the same election, it is free to do so,” the judges wrote. “Unless and until it does so, however, we must take section 8003 as we find it and enforce it as written.”
If Fong wins both elections, he would resign from the Assembly and head to Congress. A special election would be held to fill the Assembly vacancy in 2025, Fong spokesperson Ryan Gardiner told the Los Angeles Times.
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