Secretary of State Shirley Weber announced this week that she filed an abandonment of appeal in pursuing her effort to stop Assemblyman Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield) from running in both a Congressional and Assembly race this year, officially greenlighting Fong to run in both without legal challenges.
Since December, the question of if Fong can appear in both elections in the November 2024 ballot or if he can only run for the Assembly has been a major question. Before December, Fong jumped back and forth between running for McCarthy’s seat or sticking to running for reelection to the Assembly, due to both McCarthy being unsure of resigning and Senator Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) not being clear about running herself. On December 6th, McCarthy announced that he would retire at the end of the year, prompting the safe GOP district to suddenly be open. Numerous candidates quickly jumped into the race, and following Senator Grove declining the run the next day, the field only opened up wider because of many assuming that Grove was McCarthy’s “heir apparent”.
Fong originally announced that he wouldn’t be running, instead saying that he would stick to the Assembly. But with a race still devoid of any major candidates with prior elected experience, Fong changed course on December 11th, announcing that he would run after all. Secretary of State Weber quickly halted Fong’s ambitions a week later noting that Fong would be breaking state law by running for two races at the same time, and barring him from running for Congress. At the same time, he was allowed to run for the 20th House District special election to fill out McCarthy’s term, as the election would occur in late March and a runoff in May.
The Sacramento Superior Court ruled weeks later that Fong would be eligible for both races in November. SOS Weber appealed. Both the state and Fong made it clear that they wanted a ruling before April 12th, as that was the day that final election totals would be due. In the ensuing months, the case languished in the 3rd District Court of Appeal. Fong managed to secure one of the run-off election spots in late March following the special election, but his team was still committed to the longer term April appeals case.
However, the California 3rd District Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Fong last month despite heavy resistance from Weber. With few options left, Weber took the rest of the month to decide her next move. But, with no real viable path forward, Weber filed an abandonment of appeal this week, allowing Fong officially to run in both races.
Weber ends appeal against Fong
A frustrated Weber said on Thursday night that “Either court, despite their respective rulings, acknowledged the potential for voter confusion, disenfranchisement, and anomalous results in their interpretations of the Elections Code 8003. To remedy this gap in election law, which ultimately allowed someone to run for two elected offices, I’ve decided it’s better to support upcoming legislation than continue fighting in the courts. My office is supportive of a legislative solution that returns to normalcy.”
Specifically, she mentioned AB 1784, AB 1795, and AB 2003 as bills that would halt what allowed Fong to run for both offices this year to ever happen again.
Meanwhile, Fong celebrated Weber’s decision, saying that “This comes after two consecutive failed attempts to convince the courts to remove Fong from the ballot. It bears repeating that the foundation of our democracy — the ability of the voters to choose — was preserved. The voters throughout the 20th Congressional District had their votes upheld.”
Fong will now run both races concurrently. Should he win the Congressional seat and the Assembly seat, a special election is likely to occur soon after for the Assembly seat.
“You can tell just how unhappy Weber was with how this all ended up,” said Mark Georgiou, a legal advisor to political campaigns in several western states, to the Globe on Friday. “She’s not used to losing like this. But Fong’s legal argument was better. But even Fong has noted the issues in the current system. He actually wrote AB 2003. That being said, he took on the state and won because Weber was in the wrong there. If anything, this made him even more popular to voters. Lawmakers don’t take on the state and win every day.”
Fong is expected to continue work in both races following the decision this week.