Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux suspends his campaign for Congress and endorses Rep. Vince Fong in the November election in a video released Monday.
Boudreaux announced Monday that he is dropping out — more than a month after Fong, R-Bakersfield, defeated the Republican sheriff by 21 percentage points in the May special election for California’s 20th Congressional District.
“I know Congressman Fong and have worked closely with him and his team for over a decade,” Boudreaux said in a video released Monday. “While we have been on opposite sides of this campaign, at the end of the day we are Republicans, family men, and warriors committed to protecting individual liberty, lowering the cost of living, and preserving safe communities for our neighbors.”
Boudreaux said he will support candidates in 2024 who focus on public safety in the San Joaquin Valley and California through a new grassroots organization called “Golden State Justice.”
Last month, Fong was sworn in to complete retired Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s term, which expires in January 2025. He gained a lead over Boudreaux ahead of the November election for a two-year congressional term that begins in January.
Boudreaux’s name will remain on the November ballot for new members of Congress, but Fong will be the only one officially filing for office.
Boudreaux, 57, has been with the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office nearly his entire life, starting as a cadet at age 19, following in the footsteps of his father, who spent 30 years with the sheriff’s office. Before becoming sheriff, Boudreaux worked in a variety of areas, including homicide and narcotics, juvenile investigations, and the SWAT team and patrol.
Boudreaux, a Republican who lives in Springville, began leading the department in 2013 when the then-sheriff had a health scare. Boudreaux then ran for sheriff and was sworn in in January 2015. He was re-elected to a third term in 2022.
McCarthy left Congress after being ousted in October as speaker of the House of Representatives, a role he long coveted and held for nine months.
Fong, 44, was McCarthy’s chosen successor in California’s 20th District. The Bakersfield Republican once served as McCarthy’s district director and had the support of the former speaker and his allies and donors to his congressional campaign. Until he was sworn into the House of Representatives, Fong represented the Assembly’s 32nd District after being elected in 2016.
California’s 20th, where 47% of registered voters are Republicans and 27% are Democrats, covers parts of Kern, Kings, Fresno and Tulare counties. Most of the 20th century voters are in Kern County, home of Fong and McCarthy.
