A California appeals court ruled Tuesday that Vince Fong, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s chosen successor, can remain on the House ballot while also running for the state Legislature, sidestepping a legal and political headache for the Republican candidate.
But Democratic Secretary of State Shirley Weber challenged that outcome by arguing Fong should not have been allowed to run for Congress, giving the Third Circuit Court of Appeals a choice between permitting Fong’s dual candidacy or upending the election mid-cycle. Weber’s office argued that letting Fong run in two races at once could allow “absurd” results like one candidate running for every House seat in California. Judge Laurie Earl dismissed that as a purely hypothetical scenario in her Tuesday ruling.