Ken Weir announces write-in campaign for Fong’s 32nd Assembly District seat
Bakersfield City Councilman Ken Weir announced Jan. 10 he will run in the March primary as a write-in candidate for the 32nd Assembly District seat currently held by Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield.
Since he did not file in time to appear on the certified candidate list last month, Weir will campaign instead as a write-in contestant for the seat, which represents communities in Kern and Tulare counties.
This announcement comes weeks after a Sacramento judge allowed Fong to appear on ballots for two separate races — for the 32nd Assembly District and the 20th Congressional District.
Weir’s decision to run rides on the confidence among Central Valley Republicans that Fong’s congressional bid will survive a pending legal battle against California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who first ruled that Fong’s dual candidacy violated state Election Code.
As per the state’s certified list of candidates, Fong’s reelection candidacy for the Assembly seat remains unopposed.
Weber has maintained that Fong’s dual candidacy is a violation of state Election Code, citing the court’s concerns that “may result in voter confusion and the disenfranchisement of voters if Fong is ultimately elected for both offices but does not retain one.’”
But Fong’s name “is confirmed on the 20th Congressional ballot,” Weir wrote in a statement.
“And I fully support Vince for that position,” he continued, adding that Fong has shown “great expertise,” at the state level concerning oil, water and agriculture. “He will be able to represent the large 20th Congressional District
with the strength and respect of his colleagues.”
California’s 20th District seat, relinquished by Kevin McCarthy on Dec. 31, has since been left empty. In the event that Fong takes the seat, either through the special primary election or regular primary election, his current Assembly seat would be vacated without a successor. Without a named stand-in, Bakersfield runs further risk of going without representation in Sacramento or Washington, D.C.
Since “Vince is no longer seeking the Assembly office,” Weir said, he is now asking voters to write his name on their ballot for the Assembly seat.
According to Laura Cantu, Kern’s assistant registrar of voters, Weir only needs to complete a statement of write-in candidacy, which requires nomination signatures signed by eligible voters in the district.
“The candidate may pick up write-in nomination forms in our office to begin circulating the nomination papers,” Cantu wrote.
In the same statement, Weir said he has already secured Fong’s endorsement, as well as that of state Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, and McCarthy.
“Like the voters in Kern County, they are well aware of my work over the years,” Weir wrote.
A professional accountant, Weir currently represents the city’s Ward 3. Before he joined the City Council in 2006, Weir served as a trustee of the Bakersfield City School District from 1992 to 2006. He most recently won re-election to the council in 2022, with 48.8% of the vote. His term ends in 2026.
He has also chaired the Kern County Republican Party for eight years, and holds strong ties to establishment conservatives across the region.
“This is a major endeavor over the next few weeks and months, and I will need much support from the people in Kern and Tulare counties,” Weir wrote. “I look forward to the campaign.”