Goh leads as mayoral candidates face off for 3rd time
Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh had a commanding lead over Pastor Gregory Tatum in early returns Tuesday night as the two squared off for the seat for the third time.
Goh was leading in the polls with 83.2% of the votes as of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Tatum from Change Community Church had 16.8% of the vote, largely ballots that had been counted before in-person voting on Election Day.
Goh has served as mayor of Bakersfield since she was elected in 2016. This is the third time she is running for mayor. She said she considers being mayor a privilege.
“I’ve been working hard serving the people of Bakersfield and I am optimistic about the outcome, but we’ll leave it up to the voters,” Goh said before the first results came in. “I look forward to serving the wonderful people of our city and working hard on their behalf.”
Goh said she is focused on tackling the issues of mental health and the substance abuse crisis, which she said often leads to homelessness. She said there are no easy solutions but she continues to work hard.
Goh said she’s also focused on creating a clean and safe community and is committed to achieving the quality of life residents want.
“There’s so much work to be done and I will continue working hard on behalf of our residents to create the community we all envision,” Goh said.
Tatum said he has had “increments of success” as he’s run for mayor three times. Tatum said he garnered the sixth highest percentage of votes out of 25 candidates in 2016 and the second highest percentage of five candidates in 2020.
Tatum said he is not running against Goh, he is running with her. However, he said he could bring a different dynamic.
“I think she has reached her capacity to serve and it’s more than just a ceremonial job ... but we also have to recognize we’re supposed to draw business and economics to the city of Bakersfield,” Tatum said.