Newsom announces March 19 special election to fill McCarthy’s seat

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that the special election to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the former speaker, will be held on March 19.

The state’s primary is set for March 5, but local officials requested that the special election be set for a later date. Counties in the Republican lawmaker’s district were worried that a consolidated election would increase costs and create confused voters, according to the Democratic governor’s office, Politico reported.

Mr. McCarthy, a Republican, announced he was resigning in December, two months after he was ousted from the House speakership. He said he was leaving to “serve America in new ways.”

If no candidate wins a majority of the vote in the Bakersfield-area district, the top two candidates will square off in a general election on May 21. The winner will serve the rest of Mr. McCarthy’s House term through this year.

Meanwhile, several candidates already are running in the March 5 primary to win the district’s seat in November for the two-year House term that will begin in 2025.

Republican California legislator Vince Fong has thrown his hat into the race for the state’s 20th district. He is currently fighting to keep his ballot position after Secretary of State Shirley Weber said he could not run for his Assembly seat and the seat in Congress at the same time.

He had originally filed to run for reelection for his Assembly seat, but after state Sen. Shannon Grove, Bakersfield Republican, said she wasn’t going after Mr. McCarthy’s seat, he decided to seek the congressional seat.

David Giglio, a business owner who lost in the GOP primary for California’s 13th congressional district in 2022, announced that he is running as an “America First Republican.” Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux has also filed to run.