Dem
51
GOP
49
When a long-serving and/or powerful member of Congress stands down, they customarily try to pass the torch to a preferred successor. Former speaker, and soon-to-be-former representative, Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) tried to pull that off, too. And, in a poetically appropriate capstone to his career, he failed.
The fellow to whom McCarthy hoped to yield his seat is Vince Fong (R), who used to work for McCarthy, and who is now a member of the California state Assembly. Fong dithered on running for the House, filed for reelection to his Assembly seat, and then—after state Sen. Shannon Grove (R) decided to pass on the House race—changed course and filed to run to replace McCarthy. Small problem: California law forbids a candidate from running for two offices at once, and also forbids them from withdrawing their candidacy for office after the filing deadline (Dec. 15 this year). So, for Fong, it's reelection to the state Assembly or nothing. He says he will sue, but the law is clear and has survived challenges before.
At the moment, then, there are six declared candidates for the seat:
If this is the final field, then expect Boudreaux and Wood to advance; the former has already won elections in this geographical area, the latter advanced last time and lost to McCarthy.
It's really quite a fall for the former Speaker. He was the most powerful person in Congress 6 months ago, and one of the half-dozen most powerful people in the country. Now he's gone, he won't have a protégé replacing him, and many of his closest allies (like Patrick McHenry, R-NC) will soon depart, as well. All of this will make McCarthy oh-so-marketable when it comes to those sweet, sweet lobbying gigs. (Z)