Latest numbers in CD-20 special election to complete Kevin McCarthy’s term in House

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — 17 News has the latest numbers in the special election to replace former Bakersfield Congressman Kevin McCarthy in the House of Representatives.

This special election is to determine who will complete the rest of McCarthy’s term, which ends January 2025. He left the seat vacant when he resigned in December 2023.

Polls closed: Voters cast ballots in 20th Congressional District special election

In the count so far districtwide, one candidate is taking a commanding lead. But it may not be enough to avoid a runoff election.

To win outright, a candidate needs 50%(+1) of the votes — a majority.

Districtwide, Republican Assemblymember Vince Fong has a strong lead, with about 41% of the votes.

Again, that’s still below the mark to win outright.

The Associated Press has projected Fong will move on to the runoff election in May.

It appears he’ll go head-to-head with either Republican Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux or Democrat Marisa Wood.

No other candidate has received more than 5% of the votes so far districtwide.

Vince Fong also leads in Kern, which is his district.

Fong has been an assemblymember for Bakersfield since 2016. He has the local community’s support, which has long translated to votes, including in this election.

Fong is also considered the chosen McCarthy successor. Both McCarthy and former President Donald Trump are endorsing him.

And since Kern has the largest number of Republican voters in the district, these votes likely helped him take that districtwide lead.

Here in Kern, Wood is coming in second place with 22% of the votes. Boudreaux is in third with about 16%.

“For our campaign with 11 people running in the first campaign and nine people running in this campaign, we just wanted to be the top vote getter,” Asm. Vince Fong said during his Tuesday night watch party at The BLVD. “We were able to successfully achieve that [in the March primary election], and so we’re going to take that momentum…”

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Notable local leaders were at Fong’s gathering, including Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh, Kern Supervisor Phillip Peters, Kern District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer, Bakersfield City Councilmember Ken Weir, as well as CA GOP Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson.

Judy McCarthy also attended, though not McCarthy himself.

“We hope that we can hold onto that second-place position, but Marisa’s a strong candidate who’s coming in with some big numbers, and we’ll see at the end of the day how that plays out,” said Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux in a Zoom interview Tuesday night.

“I think this has been an energetic, a positive ride that I’ve been on,” said local educator and Democratic candidate Marisa Wood at her gathering at the Double Tree Hilton. “It’s been extremely worthwhile.”

And while voter turnout was expected to be low since it’s a special election, one elections department employee told 17 News turnout had been “unusually low.”

Kern Elections also said as of about 10 o’clock Tuesday night, they had received about 53,000 ballots total for the special election. That number is expected to increase, they said, as ballots are collected from countywide poll sites.

Election results will be updated in the coming days, but it’s looking likely we’ll have a deja vu come May.

The top two vote getters of this election will advance to a May runoff election, and then a final winner will be decided.

And don’t forget about the March primary that happened two weeks ago. The top two vote getters here will face off in the November general election.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17.