Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, considered an outside candidate in the Central Valley congressional race to replace former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, said Monday he would drop out of the race and Support his opponents.
Boudreau endorsed Rep. Vince Fang (R-Bakersfield), who defeated Boudreau in a special election in May to complete McCarthy’s term and was sworn into Congress last month.
The two are scheduled to compete again for a two-year term in Congress on Nov. 5. The 20th Congressional District is California’s most conservative district, running through the agricultural region of the San Joaquin Valley between Bakersfield and Fresno.
“While we are on opposite sides of this campaign, at the end of the day, we are all Republicans,” Boudreau told his supporters in a Facebook video. “We are family men, warriors committed to protecting individual freedoms, lowering the cost of living and maintaining safe communities for our neighbors.”
Boudreau, who served as Tulare County Sheriff for more than a decade, said he has no plans to leave politics. He announced the creation of Justice for the Golden State on Monday, which he said will “help build support for candidates and common-sense leaders working to create a safer, stronger, and more resilient Central Valley and California.”
Fang’s former boss, McCarthy, resigned from Congress last year after being elected as a member of the House of Representatives in the House speaker election. He was an influential figure in the race to succeed him, using his connections and strong fundraising prowess to help revitalize Fang.
Fong raised $1.7 million and received nearly $1 million in support from political action committees linked to McCarthy. He also gained support from former President Trump, which was widely believed to have been orchestrated by McCarthy. The endorsement is a coup for a man who has largely avoided the culture wars that dominate Republican factions and is trying to win over right-wing Republicans who are skeptical of the political establishment.
Boudreau told his supporters in May that the Bakersfield political establishment that helped get Fang elected is “a very powerful machine and, to say the least, very challenging.”
The District 20 race has been characterized by months of legal confusion over whether Fong is eligible to run because he has filed to run for re-election to the state House. Fong said Democratic Secretary of State Sherry Weber blocked him from withdrawing from the race, believing the deadline to withdraw had passed. She also said state election law prohibits candidates from running for two offices at the same time.
Fung’s campaign Sue Weber and won again in Sacramento County court and the Third District Court of Appeals.
