Bakersfield City Councilwoman Manpreet Kaur filed paperwork with the California Secretary of State’s Office to form a committee to run in Senate District 16. Driving the news: Kaur was elected to the Bakersfield City Council in 2022 to represent Ward 7, the district that covers southern Bakersfield. She narrowly defeated Republican David Shepard by a margin of 22 votes four years ago and ran for Congress against Rep. David Valadao (R–Hanford) in 2024 but did not make it out of the primary. Hurtado had been running for reelection unopposed until Republican Guillermo Gonzalez recently launched his campaign for the seat with widespread GOP support. The 16th district spans parts of Fresno, Kern and Tulare counties and contains all of Kings County.