Gloves are off in Hurtado vs. Parra race for state Senate District 16

The fireworks between incumbent state Sen. Melissa Hurtado and former Assemblymember Nicole Parra began two months before votes are cast in the newly designed 16th state Senate District.

Hurtado, the Sanger Democrat who switched from the 14th state Senate District to avoid a battle with colleague Anna Caballero, created a website – nicoleparrasparty.com – that calls the Bakersfield Democrat a “party to a debt collections judgement.” (sic)

“Politician Nicole Parra wants to be elected to the State Senate where she would oversee the state budget and state spending. But Nicole Parra managed her own money so badly that she was sued repeatedly for not paying her bills, which totaled thousands of dollars in debt,” reads one portion of the website.

It also alleges that Parra spent campaign funds on travels to Las Vegas, Hawaii and three other locations.

The website also questions her Democratic Party bonds when she endorsed Republican candidates against Gov. Jerry Brown and Sen. Barbara Boxer.

Hurtado, during a Thursday telephone interview, called the website information accurate.

“The website talks about factual information about her term in office in the Legislature,” said Hurtado.

Parra, reached Thursday afternoon by telephone, said the website smacked of desperation on part of the Hurtado campaign.

“That this would be the first campaign action she would take would be negative speaks volumes about her,” said Parra, who served in the Assembly in 2002-08.

“Hurtado did endorse me for Congress last year, I guess the issues mentioned in the hit piece didn’t bother her then. Lol,” Parra tweeted on April 6.

Parra said all her debts were paid after a client finally paid after a year.

“Yes, I spent money on travel to conferences, meetings and fundraisers,” she said. “I was registered NPP (no party preference) after Democratic leaders kicked me out of the Capitol for fighting for my district.”

Parra’s campaign mistakenly received the $1,500 bill for the website.

Her response: “When you accidently get the invoice to pay the bill for the website being used against me ... lol. FYI my name is misspelled. Cheap website. Hurtado overpaid. #amateurhour”

In 2013, Parra endorsed Republican Andy Vidak in a special election for the state Senate seat vacated by Democrat Michael Rubio. Vidak won and represented the 16th state Senate District until 2018 when Hurtado defeated him.

Redistricting and political chairs have pitted Hurtado against Parra.

Hurtado, who moved to Bakersfield to be in the 16th District, endorsed Parra in her bid to challenge Republican David Valadao in the 21st Congressional District. But Parra dropped out and switched to the state Senate race, leaving Assemblymember Rudy Salas, D-Bakersfield, a shot at Valadao.

When redistricting threw Caballero and Hurtado into the same district, Caballero gobbled many key endorsements but Hurtado signaled she would remain in the 14th state Senate District race.

Last month, Hurtado announced her candidacy for the 16th District, which stretches from just south of Sanger in Fresno County and catches Kings County and portions of Kern County.

Parra said Hurtado assured her that she would remain in the District 14 race. Parra said she even helped Hurtado with a fundraiser earlier this year in Sacramento by “calling a few friends to go to her event.”

“I’ve always supported her when I worked for Marathon Petroleum,” said Parra. “So I trusted her when she said she was running up there, win or lose.”

Hurtado called Parra on President’s Day to let her know that she had switched districts. The 16th District is 58% Latino.

“I feel betrayed,” said Parra, who said she feels like a David against Hurtado’s Goliath.

Hurtado said the call with Parra “was short.”

Hurtado said she was hesitant to endorse in the 21st Congressional District “because a colleague of mine was also in the race … but she was persistent and so I wanted to be supportive of a woman in that Congressional seat.”

Hurtado said the redistricting threw “challenges after challenges” at her.

“I feel empowered, honestly, because this is my whole life,” said Hurtado. “I’m in this for the right reason. I’m not a politician.”

Hurtado said she has raised about $700,000 for her campaign and believes she is competitive in either district.

“We’re raising enough funds to be able to run an effective campaign,” said Hurtado.

Parra said her campaign has raised between $150,000 and $175,000. That included almost $100,000 she raised at a Feb. 2 fundraiser before Hurtado got into the race.

She is banking on local supporters and endorsements from 70 locally elected officials to make up for not having Hurtado’s funding.

Parra said Hurtado has been absent on the campaign trail, and that calls for a debate have gone unanswered.

“People couldn’t even identify her if she walked in the room,” said Parra, who said she kept a state Senate campaign account open when she left the Assembly.

Delano Mayor Bryan Osorio, a Democrat, and Republicans David Shepard and Gregory Tatum are also in the race.

The top two vote getters in the June primary will advance to the November general election.

Esta historia fue publicada originalmente el 8 de abril de 2022, 9:21 a. m..