A Sacramento Superior Court judge ruled on Thursday that California GOP Assemblyman Vince Fong, who is backed by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to fill the former speaker’s House seat, can be on the ballot for California’s 20th Congressional District.
Fong announced his bid for Congress with McCarthy’s endorsement after he initially said he would not run when the former speaker announced his retirement from Congress. However, questions were raised about his ballot eligibility because Fong filed for reelection to the Assembly.
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Two weeks ago, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber upheld the California election code, which indicates a candidate cannot appear on one ballot for two separate offices, and candidates cannot withdraw from running for reelection after the filing deadline has passed.
Fong filed a lawsuit opposing the secretary of state’s decision.
Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne W.L. Chang overturned the secretary of state’s decision, ruling the election code only applies to the independent nomination of candidates.
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In an order filed Thursday evening, Chang said the court is “concerned about the outcome of this Petition, as it may result in voter confusion and the disenfranchisement of voters if Fong is ultimately elected for both offices but does not retain one.” She also said it “somewhat defies common sense to find the law permits a candidate to run for two offices during the same election,” but language from Elections Code Section 8003 does not apply to Fong.
Chang wrote, “The Court is compelled to interpret the law as it is written by the Legislature and finds Elections Code section 8003 is inapplicable to Fong’s Petition and that the statute is the sole basis for [Weber’s] rejection of Fong’s nomination paperwork for CD-20.”
