Uncontested races on ballot
There are five candidates on the ballot in the June primary for whom defeat is, quite literally, not an option.
The following five offices had either only the incumbent file to run, or as in the case of the 32nd Assembly District, there’s no incumbent but only one person filed to run — leaving the candidates running unopposed.
In the 32nd District race, Assemblyman Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield, is running without opposition, after three terms in the 34th Assembly District, a move prompted by the recent redistricting. The 32nd district includes parts of Arvin, Bakersfield, Bodfish, Lebec, Porterville, Ridgecrest, Tehachapi and Visalia, among others.
For the office of Kern County Superintendent of Schools, Mary C. Barlow is running unopposed after being appointed to the position in 2017. She was elected to her first full term in 2018. Barlow oversees educational programming and the supporting divisions for 47 Kern County School Districts serving over 198,000 students.
Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer is running for re-election unopposed. She was first elected to the office in June 2018. Zimmer counts the prosecutions of Kerry Hastings, a serial killer; Billy Ray Johnson, the “Eastside Rapist”; and Corey Johnson, who killed three people and attempted to kill several others in the longest gang trial in Kern County history, as among her most significant achievements in office, according to a county website.
Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood is running unopposed for a fifth term. He was first elected to the office in 2006. Youngblood previously has said the department is making significant progress toward completing the changes stipulated in an agreement with the state’s Department of Justice, having gotten a head start before the agreement was signed.
Kern County Treasurer-Tax Collector Jordan Kaufman is running unopposed. Kaufman has served two terms, having first been elected in 2014.