Our View: Voters will decide two Senate candidates in primary

Democratic incumbent Melissa Hurtado faces two primary challengers in her bid to continue representing the 16th Senate District, which includes parts of Kern, Kings, Tulare and Fresno counties.

Her two challengers are Bakersfield Vice Mayor Manpreet Kaur, a Democrat, and Delano restaurant owner Guillermo Gonzalez, a Republican. The two candidates receiving the most primary votes will advance to a runoff in the November general election.

The two candidates who should advance are Hurtado and Kaur. They have legislative experience and proven abilities to respond to constituents' needs. Gonzalez lacks elective experience and a legislative record.

A review of how Hurtado became the 16th District's incumbent state senator in 2022 may help explain how the district ended up with two leading Democratic candidates locked into a heated race in this year's primary.

Born and raised in Fresno County, Hurtado returned to her hometown of Sanger after graduating from Sacramento State University and ran successfully for the City Council in 2016. Two years later, the then-30–year-old Hurtado ran for the 14th District Senate seat and beat incumbent Republican Sen. Andy Vidak of Hanford. She was the youngest woman ever to be elected to the state Senate.

But after the 2020 census, the boundary lines of the 14th District were redrawn and Hurtado's home was no longer in the district. Rather than move into the newly drawn 14th District and campaign against a Democrat, who already was running for the seat, Hurtado looked south to the newly drawn 16th District.

The 2022 election for that seat was a bare-knuckle political brawl, with Hurtado barely defeating Republican David Shepard, a Porterville farmer, by a mere 22 votes. The vote count, which was hung up for days in a recount, was the closest state legislative race that year. But just two years later, Hurtado opted to jump into the 22nd District congressional race. She finished last in a field of four primary candidates.

The leading challenger in her state Senate reelection bid also is a "first." Manpreet Kaur is the first Punjabi Sikh woman elected to the Bakersfield City Council. A political science lecturer at Cal State Bakersfield, Kaur is the political director for the civil rights advocacy group Sikh Coalition.

Kaur says she is challenging the incumbent because she believes Hurtado's leadership in the 16th District is lacking.

"I feel that today, the families of the southern Central Valley and working families are continuing to fall behind, and what's missing is a plan for the future," Kaur told The Californian. "It's a gap in advocacy and its leadership that is missing."

Kaur, who was elected to the City Council in 2022, is supported by the progressive Working Families Party. She is refusing contributions from corporate-based political action committees. But she says her public record demonstrates her willingness and experience working across party lines for the welfare of constituents.

"I've worked with even our Republican state senator who was extremely responsive when immigrant truck drivers were having their (commercial) licenses taken away," Kaur said, referring to rule changes last year impacting local Sikh truck drivers. "It was actually a Republican state senator who was responsive and we received radio silence from our Democratic state senator."

Kaur said in order for the district's agriculture, oil and manufacturing industries to grow, "the state has to invest resources back into it. We see dollars go to Sacramento, but we don't see the same resources come back to the district. That has to change."

Contending Kaur's criticism is unwarranted, Hurtado says her record in Sacramento "speaks for itself." As part of her record, she noted the passage of Senate Bill 237, a bipartisan bill that allowed Kern County to resume oil drilling; and $2 million each for valley fever testing, child protective services and wildfire protection. She also said the Legislature invested more than $1 billion in the Central Valley, including $90 million on public safety infrastructure.

Noting the state is facing a massive financial deficit and federal cuts, Hurtado said, "We're providing resources where we can and finding solutions where possible."

"Healthcare is important and so we have not only made that a priority of ours, but we've also been taking early action on it," Hurtado said of Senate Democrats.

The best outcome for 16th Senate District primary voters is to vote for one of the two strongest candidates in the race - Melissa Hurtado, or Manpreet Kaur - to compete in the November general election runoff.

12th Senate District

Voters have two Democratic candidates battling each other in the 16th District, but no Democrat has shown up to compete in the 12th District, where Bakersfield Republican Sen. Shannon Grove is termed out.

Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig, a Republican and former mayor of Clovis, is clearly the frontrunner in the 12th District race, which includes Kern, Fresno and Tulare counties.

The other candidates are Libertarian William Brown, a Florida native, who moved to California with the U.S. Marine Corps and now is a social worker for incarcerated people; and Republican Luis Miramontes, a U.S, Marine Corps veteran, who works as an aircraft mechanic for a private contractor at Lemoore Naval Air Station. Neither Brown, nor Miramontes, have elected experience.

Magsig has 26 years of elected service - 16 as Clovis mayor and 10 as a county supervisor. Before that, he worked as staff for state legislators.

His endorsements come from current and former legislators, including the senator he hopes to replace, Shannon Grove. He is supported by several law enforcement and labor groups. All four Republican members of the Kern County Board of Supervisors and Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood endorse him.

He is a supporter of the region's businesses and industries. He is familiar with local issues and the workings of state government.

"I've worked with Republicans and Democrats, and I've worked to build coalitions around spaces where there are issues that need to be addressed," Magsig told The Californian, noting with amazement that "I don't even have a Democrat running."

Magsig is clearly the most qualified candidate in this race to become the next 12th District senator. But in California's top-two primary system, Magsig will advance to the November election, where he will face either Brown or Miramontes. The Californian is not recommending who Magsig's challenger should be.

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