Republican Vince Fong set to hold South Valley Congressional seat, helping other Valley Republicans

Amid high-profile congressional races throughout Central California, the state's 20th Congressional District will be a safe seat for Republicans and incumbent Vince Fong.

"At the end of the day, after the election is over and the dust settles, we've got to govern," Fong recently told Action News.

He has served in Congress since June.

Voters elected him to finish the rest of Kevin McCarthy's term after Republicans stripped him of the House Speakership, and he resigned.

Fong, who once worked for McCarthy, is now running for a full, two-year term that would begin in January.

"(There is) a tremendous amount of work that still needs to be done in terms of trying to get our water policy back on track," Fong said.

He is not the only Republican on the ballot, but the only one still in the race.

Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux suspended his campaign for Congress and endorsed Fong just weeks after losing to him in the May special election.

Even though Boudreaux dropped out, the sheriff's name remains on the November ballot.

"We're spending a lot of time and resources not only sharing our vision but communicating that we got to unite," Fong said of the situation involving Boudreaux.

"We got to unite as a community."

While Fong does not have any formal challengers, his Republican colleagues do.

Republican David Valadao and Democrat Rudy Salas are facing off in the South Valley, and Republican John Duarte and Democrat Adam Gray are on ballots in the North Valley.

Both contests are rematches of 2022 races Republicans won by narrow margins. Duarte beat Gray by 564 votes.

If Democrats win this time, the races could flip control of the House.

"The Republican House majority comes through California. We have a very narrow majority right now in Washington, D.C. We have six competitive races, incumbents running in California," Fong said.

Federal filings show Fong with about $150,000 in cash as he campaigns for and sends resources to Valadao and Duarte.

Fong is also focused on the Central California issues he wants to solve in the new Congress.

"It's the border," Fong said.

"People are concerned about their public safety when it comes to fentanyl and human trafficking, and it's the affordability crisis, which is real."

Fong says he is only running for Congress, but some South Valley voters will see his name on the ballot twice, once for Congress and once for the State Assembly.

Fong filed for re-election to the State Assembly before deciding to run for Congress.

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