Republican state legislator Vince Fong advanced to a May election in California to decide who will complete the remainder of the term of former U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which runs through January.
It was not yet clear Tuesday night who will emerge from a crowded field of contenders to take Fong on in the May 21 special election in the 20th District.
Fong, a onetime McCarthy aide who also has his endorsement, and Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, another Republican, were among a cluster of candidates in the solidly conservative district hoping to fill the seat the speaker left vacant when he resigned last year.
Fong is a California Assembly member who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Republicans are expected to easily hold the seat, and the party’s fragile majority in the chamber was not at stake in Tuesday’s election.
The district, which cuts through the Central Valley farm belt including parts of Bakersfield and Fresno, is the most strongly Republican House seat in heavily Democratic California.
The polls closed at 8 p.m., and early returns showed Fong, Boudreaux and Democrat Marisa Wood edging ahead of the field.
