Vince Fong reacts to special election win that sends him to Congress

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- In the next few weeks, Vince Fong will officially fill the open seat in the 20th Congressional District.

"Well I'm certainly humbled and grateful that the voters have overwhelmingly selected me to be their voice in Washington, D.C.," said Fong.

The Bakersfield Republican is headed to the U.S. House of Representatives to fill the void left by Kevin McCarthy, who stepped down in December just weeks after being ousted from the speaker position.

There is little time to celebrate.

Fong said he still has a busy few weeks ahead in the State Assembly. He said he will continue his work there until he is sworn into Congress.

"This week is a big week," said Fong. "We call it the house of origin deadline, so all the bills in the Assembly will have to move over to the Senate, and then the Senate bills will move over to the Assembly, so we're going to tackle over 400 bills, I think, that are left remaining."

Fong said he's determined to hit the ground running in D.C., tackling issues with border security and energy and water infrastructure in the state. He'll also be working to get former President Donald Trump back in office, who offered his endorsement to Fong months ago.

"Well, I'll do what we can to support President Trump and make sure that he gets elected President," said Fong. "I want to keep our House majority. I look forward to working with the President when he gets elected."

As for his opponent, Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, he offered his congratulations to Fong and said he'll continue fighting for the Valley.

"Let's let Vince get into his position and let him do some work, and you know for me, I continue to focus on the people of Tulare County in the Central Valley when it comes to the sheriff's office, and I'm very happy for Vince and his victory," said Boudreaux.

The two are set to face off again in November for a full term in Congress. When asked if he would remain in the race after this loss, Boudreaux had this to say.

"I can tell you there's a lot of things being discussed for me in my future behind the scenes over the course of the last month," said Boudreaux. "I think my focus is going to be on California and seeing what we can do here in California and the Central Valley. I think I've got a good strong voice to bring some good things to California what that means for our future and into November, I'm just not quite sure."

He went on to say we'll have solid answers within the next two to three weeks.

The election results will need to be certified within 30 days.

Fong told Action News there were already talks underway with U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson about his swearing-in, but he could not confirm the details.

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