When Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) this month announced his retirement, Fong, 44, said he would stay in his job in the 32nd Assembly District and would not run for Congress. Days later, Fong changed his mind and filed paperwork to enter the race, prompting complaints from other candidates that he was trying to run for two offices at once, which is prohibited by state law, they said.

Fong’s paperwork to run for Congress was “improperly submitted,” the office of Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber said late Friday. The office said Fong “will not appear on the list of certified candidates for Congressional District 20 that our office will transmit to county election officials on candidates on Dec. 28.”

Fong’s campaign released a statement vowing to file a lawsuit “imminently” and calling the secretary of State’s decision an “unprecedented interference in the candidate filing process.”

County elections offices have “full jurisdiction to qualify candidates for the ballot,” while the secretary of State “simply has a ministerial duty to certify the candidate lists and include ALL qualified candidates,” the campaign said.