{"id":201821,"date":"2026-03-03T06:33:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T06:33:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/201821\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T06:33:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T06:33:35","slug":"manpreet-kaur-announces-candidacy-for-california-state-senate-district-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/201821\/","title":{"rendered":"Manpreet Kaur announces candidacy for California State Senate District 16"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 After weeks of speculation, Vice Mayor Manpreet Kaur announced her candidacy for California State Senate District 16.<\/p>\n

Stonecreek Park in south Bakersfield is usually filled with activity from pickup basketball games, to kids taking turns down the bright yellow slide. It\u2019s also a familiar place for Vice Mayor Manpreet Kaur, who grew up visiting the park and now uses it as the backdrop for a major announcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited and honored to be here today on this historic occasion as my very good friend, Vice Mayor Manpreet Kaur, announces her bid for California State Senate District 16,\u201d said Raji Brar.<\/p>\n

The Vice Mayor addressed a small coalition of family, community members and local leaders about the decision to run.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a public servant. So, in being a public servant, my accountability is first and foremost to the people who have trusted me to be a leader for them and be their spokesperson,\u201d said Kaur.<\/p>\n

State Senate District 16 includes parts of Bakersfield and sections of Kings, Tulare and Fresno counties. Democrat Melissa Hurtado currently holds the seats and will now face a primary battle to hold it.<\/p>\n

Fourth US service member killed in Iran operation <\/a><\/p>\n

Candidate for Congress Randy Villegas says that Hurtado has not done enough to represent the best interests of her district, namely voting against unmasking ICE agents and farm worker overtime legislations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think when we look at people\u2019s records and people\u2019s actions, it speaks volumes. You know, there were several bills in which I was disappointed to see the senator actually vote against our communities,\u201d said Villegas.<\/p>\n

Kaur says her campaign will focus on community engagement, addressing ongoing immigrations raids in the state, improving infrastructure and addressing affordability.<\/p>\n

Kaur and Hurtado will now have to face each other in the June Primary, where only one will make it the November election.<\/p>\n

\u201cElection should be competitive because that\u2019s how we stay healthy in order for us to have a healthy democracy. People should have a plethora of choices and see what suits them best,\u201d said Kaur. \u201cA competitive race means that is something worth fighting for.\u201d<\/p>\n

We reached out to Senator Hurtado for her reaction to Kaur\u2019s entrance into the race. The senator said in part, \u201cI\u2019m proud of what we\u2019ve accomplished, but, now more than ever we need leaders who can ensure our tax dollars are well spent and that Sacramento doesn\u2019t make our lives even more expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaur said that regardless of where voters may have grown up, she will represent them all.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey may be in Toledo, they may be in Porterville, they may be elsewhere. But, our stories are the same,\u201d said Kaur. \u201cAnd my name might sound different than yours, but our our dreams for our neighborhoods and our for our families are the same. And that\u2019s what I\u2019m committed to fighting for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 After weeks of speculation, Vice Mayor Manpreet Kaur announced her candidacy for California State…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152,93648,44501,61868,76888,18211],"class_list":["post-201821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news","tag-basketball-games","tag-california-state-senate","tag-manpreet-kaur","tag-melissa-hurtado","tag-vice-mayor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}