Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux pulled papers to run for Congress late Monday in a bid to succeed Speaker Emeritus Kevin McCarthy (R–Bakersfield).
The move comes as Kern County elections officials allowed Asm. Vince Fong (R–Bakersfield) to do the same despite having already qualified for re-election and the close of the filing deadline for his Assembly seat.
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Driving the news: Boudreaux, arguably the most visible countywide official in Tulare, has long danced with the prospects of running for Congress.
- In 2021, he weighed a bid to replace former Rep. Devin Nunes (R–Tulare), but ruled against it as ongoing redistricting drew McCarthy into the GOP-heavy areas of Tulare County.
Legal issues boost viability: Legal issues surrounding the candidacy for Asm. Vince Fong (R–Bakersfield) are serving as fuel for a Boudreaux candidacy.
- Fong pulled papers in Kern County on Monday afternoon and posted to social media that his campaign was moving forward with no reference to potential legal issues.
- The California Secretary of State, in a statement to Politico on Monday night, said “no withdrawal is allowed, and a person cannot run for more than one office in the same election.”
- California’s elections code and a California Supreme Court decision in Keane v. Smith bars candidates from running for two voter-nominated offices simultaneously.
- As such, candidates vying for county, state, or Federal offices would be blocked from running if they filed declaration of candidacy for a different elected office, qualified to run, and the filing deadline closed.
- For offices – such as Fong’s – which feature a qualified incumbent running for re-election, the filing deadline concluded on Friday, Dec. 8.
- California does not allow candidates to withdraw their declaration of candidacy for voter-nominated offices once the period has concluded.
