Trump backs Kevin McCarthy protege in California special election for former speaker’s seat

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California legislator backed by former President Donald Trump and a sheriff who promises to harden the nation’s porous borders are facing off in a special U.S. House election to complete the remaining term of deposed former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which runs through January.

State Assembly member Vince Fong, a onetime McCarthy aide who also has his endorsement, and Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, both Republicans, are among a cluster of candidates in the solidly conservative district hoping to fill the seat the speaker left vacant when he resigned last year.

Because of Trump’s involvement, the race will be watched as a possible proxy vote on the former president’s clout as he heads toward an all-but-certain matchup against President Joe Biden in November.

McCarthy’s dramatic fall in the House — he is the only speaker in history to be voted out of the job — left behind a messy race to succeed him that has included an ongoing lawsuit and exposed rivalries within the GOP.

Republicans are expected to hold the seat easily, and the party’s fragile majority in the chamber is not at stake. The district, which cuts through the Central Valley farm belt including parts of Bakersfield and Fresno, is the most strongly Republican seat in heavily Democratic California.

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