Vince Fong

vincefong.com

Date	Party	Office	Votes	Result
11-08-2016	Republican	AD-34	123959	Win
11-06-2018	Republican	AD-34	103346	Win
11-03-2020	Republican	AD-34	146611	Win
11-08-2022	Republican	AD-32	129323	Win
05-21-2024	Republican	CD-20	50568	Win
11-05-2024	Republican	AD-32	115091	Win
11-05-2024	Republican	CD-20	187862	Win

Candidate Biography:

Vincent Karchi Fong
Born: October 24, 1979 in Bakersfield, CA
Married: Michelle, Amanda Boschma (m. 2023)
Children: Mazzie and Trenton

2003: Graduate Intern, House Committee on Ways and Means
2003-2007: District Representative, Congressman Bill Thomas
2007-2016: District Director, Congressman Kevin McCarthy
2024: Resigned from the State Assembly on May 24.

• NOTABLE NO VOTE (Legislative Staff Collective Bargaining): Fong was one of 5 State Assemblymembers (and 8 legislators overall) who voted against AB 1 (2023) by Tina McKinnor, which allowed California legislative staff to form unions for collective bargaining.
• COMMITTEE ACTION: On April 1, 2024, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas removed Fong from all of his committee assignments (presumably in anticipation of his election to Congress in May).
• VINCE'S LAW: In September 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1784 (Gail Pellerin), which prevents candidates from seeking multiple offices in the same election.

• ON THE BALLOT TWICE: On December 6, 2023, Congressman Kevin McCarthy announced that he would resign from Congress later in the year. Initially considered the leading candidate for the Congressional seat (because he had previously served as McCarthy's district director, Vince Fong announced at noon on December 7th that "after giving it thoughtful and prayful consideration, my family and I have decided that now is not my time, and I will not be running for Congress in 2024." At 10 pm on December 10th, Senator Shannon Grove announced "Although it would be a tremendous honor, after prayerful consideration and thoughtful discussions with my family, I have decided I will not seek election to Congress in 2024. I will honor my commitment to those who elected me to the California State Senate, and I will continue to fight for the needs of Central Valley residents." The following morning (December 11th), Fong announced that he would indeed be seeking a seat in Congress. However, he had already already completed the candidacy paperwork to run for reelection to the Assembly before the December 8th deadline. On the afternoon of December 11th, Fong took the oath of office as a candidate for Congress. This appears the first case of a candidate appearing on the ballot for two partisan offices in the same election since Dick Mountjoy in 1994. On December 15th, the Secretary of State's office announced that Fong was disqualified as a candidate for CD-20, explaining that their "office has determined that Mr. Fong’s filed nomination papers for Congressional District 20 were improperly submitted. Mr. Fong will not appear on the list of certified candidates for Congressional District 20 that our office will transmit to county election officials on candidates on December 28." Fong responded that "County elections offices full jurisdiction to qualify candidates for the ballot. The Secretary of State simply has a ministerial duty to certify the candidate lists and include ALL qualified candidates." On December 22nd, Fong sued the Secretary of State on the basis that the code section [Elections Code 8003] applies to "independent nomination of candidates" which no longer applies to voter-nominated candidates under California's top two primary. On December 28th, the deadline for the Secretary of State to release the list of certified candidates for the March Primary, Sacramento Superior Court's Judge Shelleyanne Chang ruled that Fong could run for both State Assembly and Congress. The case was then appealed to the state's 3rd District Court of Appeal and, on April 9th, the court found that Fong could appear on both ballots.