The battle for control of the Republican Party is mirrored in today’s special election to replace Kevin McCarthy in Congress.
The overwhelming frontrunner to complete McCarthy’s unserved term is Vince Fong, the former staffer and protégé of the former speaker. Fong will have a significant advantage in the November election for a full two-year term if he wins tonight’s race against Tulare Sheriff Mike Boudreaux and becomes Congressman Fong.
For McCarthy, who has done much to support the state legislator from the Central Valley, it would be a victory. It would also be a vindication for GOP officials and donors who are supporting Republicans who are friendly to the establishment rather than the far-right extremists who deposed McCarthy and cost him his safe red seat.
As part of a broader effort to support mainstream Republicans rather than conservatives affiliated with the anti-establishment Club for Growth and the far-right Freedom Caucus, the Nevada-based Conservatives for American Excellence contributed $500,000 to the pro-Fong PAC.
McCarthy has personally funded Fong’s campaign and helped secure a vital support from Trump; he is currently engaged in a revenge effort against the Freedom Caucus rebels who removed him from office. In the March primaries, a pro-Fong Super PAC received $450,000 from a McCarthy-linked PAC, which helped propel Fong to victory and hurt Boudreaux.
Nearer to home, McCarthy considers his own legacy while he strives to ensure Fong’s triumph.
According to an anonymous source familiar with McCarthy’s thoughts, the former speaker’s motivations were explained by the fact that McCarthy witnessed what happened with Boehner — a member of the Freedom Caucus took over his position. “He takes one look at this and says, ‘I hope this seat goes to someone like me.'” Earlier this weekend, McCarthy was characterized by California Republican Party Chair Jessica Millan Patterson as someone who is “heavily engaged in California Republican Party politics.”
Boudreaux is up against the same Bakersfield Republican machine that helped elect Fong, McCarthy, and former Rep. Bill Thomas, even though he isn’t a member of the Freedom Caucus.
Fong is also vying for the open House seat held by McCarthy, his former employer. Fong, like McCarthy during his time in Sacramento, is perceived as a more traditional conservative rather than a radical activist.
There has been a shift inside the Republican Party since McCarthy’s arrival in Washington, and it is mostly attributable to the president whose unconventional policies and defiance of established norms McCarthy championed in his bid for the speakership. As Fong’s former boss tries to assert what little authority he has left, he hopes to ride the changing tides into Washington, DC.
