Special primary election to fill 20th Congressional seat set for Tuesday

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- In just four days, some voters will return to the polls to vote in a special election.

Up for grabs is the 20th Congressional District, the seat vacated by former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy. He resigned from Congress in December.

That move teed up what has become a contentious race between Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux and McCarthy's hand-picked successor, Assemblyman Vince Fong.

Boudreaux and Fong are both Republicans.

"Our state and our country is in crisis," Fong told Action News. "As I travel throughout the 20th Congressional District, the laundry list of concerns gets larger and larger."

"I'm a law-and-order candidate. I believe in a strong and secure border," Boudreaux said. "Do we want someone that's new and fresh and a law-and-order perspective who has worked with legislators, or do we want more of what we've always had?"

Because McCarthy left his seat early, voters now need to decide who will serve the rest of his term, which expires next January.

There is a special election set for May 21, but the primary is on Tuesday. And that primary could determine who goes to Congress.

"If we have a majority winner on Tuesday, that person will be declared the winner and could fill it as early as the end of this month," Fresno County Clerk and Registrar of Voters James Kus said.

Whoever voters pick would represent about 800,000 people. The district includes:

• Eastern Fresno County, including all of Clovis,
• Eastern Tulare County, including half of Visalia,
• A small part of Kings County, including Lemoore,
• And a hook around Kern County.

If you live in one of those areas, you can mail your ballot by Tuesday night or vote in person. In Fresno County, there are four vote centers.

"Two of those vote centers are open right now -- one in Downtown Clovis and one at the Sunnyside Library," Kus said. "We'll open two more at Bear Mountain and at Melody Park."

Regardless of what happens in the special election primary, the fight between Fong and Boudreaux is bound to continue.

On March 5, voters picked the two men as their top choices to square off in the November general election. That winner will serve a full, two-year term in the new Congress beginning next January.

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