The Bakersfield cabal just lost a congressional seat, made Assemblyman Vince Fong look foolish, while McCarthy gave a speech on the floor of Congress—and in the UK—lauding the Democrat Party for being diverse, then saying the GOP is a bunch of country clubbers.
Of course, he was a GOP Assembly leader, a Congressional leader, combined for over 25 years. Not once did he say these things. Nor, since he was in leadership, did he do something about it. He will now claim he was responsible for the large number of non white members of Congress. So why is he claiming the GOP is an affiliate of the local country club?
For those attached to him, they are now collateral damage. Cathy Abernathy who tried to manipulate the law in favor of Vince Fong lost big time. All she has left is supervisor Zack Scrivner—who has had serious FBI problems in the past. The new member of Congress will not be one of hers—and will be from the North part of the district, not from Kern County.
CRP Chair Patterson, received $250,000 from the McCarthy for Congress Committee, to get elected CRP Chair. Her contacts are based on her political relationship with Kevin. As the National GOP’ers see Kevin as a moderate version of Liz Cheney, they will not want to be involved with any of his Team.
His outburst that he will do whatever it takes to defeat eight Republican members of Congress will further alienate him from the Republican Party. Donor money meant to elect Republican’s and defeat Democrats will be used against the GOP. Folks will not be happy with that.
We might be witnessing a minor league version of McCarthy turning into a California version of Mitt Romney (who said he might vote for Biden).
Just as the Biden Crime Family is falling apart, it looks like the McCarthy political machine is dissolving.
California’s messiest ballot saga Caused by Kevin McCarthy (With Collateral Damage)
By DUSTIN GARDINER and LARA KORTE, California Playbook, 12/18/23 https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2023/12/18/californias-messiest-ballot-saga-00132217
Retiring Rep. Kevin McCarthy appears to have failed in his attempt to get a chosen successor on the ballot — and the former GOP speaker can largely blame himself.
McCarthy’s decision to announce his retirement so close to a key ballot deadline set off a mad scramble among Republicans in the solidly red district — and a series of events that has left one top contender in legal limbo.
The California Secretary of State’s office said Friday that state Assemblymember Vince Fong was ineligible to run for the seat because he had already qualified to run for reelection to the Assembly and missed the Dec. 8 deadline to withdraw from the ballot in that race. Candidates cannot appear in two races on the same ballot.
Fong, a Bakersfield Republican and McCarthy’s former district director, has vowed to sue the state to stay on the ballot in the District 20 congressional race. If he is unsuccessful, voters in the district will cast ballots without having a well-positioned frontrunner ahead of the March 5 primary.
McCarthy had been dropping hints for months that he might leave Congress. Still, the timing created a tight window for potential candidates mulling whether to take the plunge.
Fong initially said he would not run for McCarthy’s seat, clearing the way for state Sen. Shannon Grove. But a few days later — after it was too late for Fong to withdraw from the Assembly race — Grove announced she wouldn’t run after all, and Fong tried to jump in.
The chaos of the past two weeks has left GOP voters in the district feeling bewildered and with about a dozen largely unknown contenders, said Tal Eslick, a longtime Central Valley political strategist.
“Most folks are still trying to get their wits about them,” he said. “Voters are going to need to get informed really quickly on a lot of candidates.”
Other hopefuls in the race include far-right conservative David Giglio, who threatened to sue if Fong remained on the ballot; Tulare County Sheriff Michael Boudreaux, who’s unknown to many voters in Fresno and Bakersfield; and Kyle Kirkland, a Fresno casino magnate.
Fong has directed his frustration at Democratic Secretary of State Shirley Weber, accusing her office of “unprecedented interference in the candidate filing process.” California GOP Chair Jessica Millan Patterson, also a McCarthy ally, said Democrats in Sacramento are depriving the district of a “complete slate of candidates” for political reasons.
Those accusations aside, McCarthy and Grove’s last-minute moves didn’t do the former speaker’s allies any favors. Political consultants in the region have been having difficult discussions about how the succession planning went off the rails, and why key players weren’t communicating like they should have been.
Grove stunned Republicans when she bowed out, a decision that she said came after a discussion with her family. But Eslick said most GOP insiders seem to understand the personal nature of the decision, for her as well as for McCarthy.
“I don’t criticize anybody for having second thoughts about doing it,” Eslick said. “It’s a tough gig, it’s not a whole lot of fun. It literally involves traveling back and forth across the country.”
— with help from Melanie Mason
Kevin McCarthy’s final speech on the House floor, where he embraced Democrats and scolded Republicans, proved to many why he had to be voted out. McCarthy now goes down in the history books, but not for the reasons he wanted.