Tulare County registrar: 'Folks need to get out and vote,' turnout low ahead of Primary Election

Tulare County Elections has received a little more than 15,000 mail-in ballots ahead of Tuesday's Primary Election.

That's a low turnout, Registrar of Voters Michelle Baldwin says, but remains on par for previous gubernatorial elections in the county.

"People like to vote on Election Day," she said.

Unlike the November 2020 Presidential Election, Tulare County will not have voting centers open on the days leading up to the June 7 election. In-person voters will only be able to vote at traditional polling places on Election Day.

That's because vote center turnout has not been impressive, Baldwin said.

"We tried to do as much outreach as we possibly could to encourage people to get out and vote early, and it kind of fell on deaf ears," she said.

Many local elections are on Tuesday's ballot, from the Tulare County Board of Supervisors and schools' superintendent to redrawn state senate and assembly districts.

"Folks need to get out and vote," Baldwin said. "If they don't have a say in the voting process, then their preferred candidate may not go on to reach the General Election."

Here's a look at each of the local races to appear on this week's ballot, as well as some of their biggest funders, according to campaign finance data.

State Senate

12th District

Geography: Most of Visalia and the northern tip of Tulare and include a large swath of eastern Tulare County, including Three Rivers and large parts of Kern County as far south as Edwards Air Force Base.

Candidates: Senator Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) is the clear front runner for the seat. She faces Democrat Susanne Gundy.

Funders: Grove has raised nearly $538,000 this election cycle so far, with many of the largest donations coming from farming interests, as well as various corporations.

16th District

Geography:  Dinuba, a small part of Visalia and most of Tulare, and large parts of southern Tulare County and Kern County, including Bakersfield.

Candidates: Probably the most interesting race of the night. Current State Senator Melissa Hurtado will face off against former Assembly Democrat Nicole Para in this Democrat-leaning district.

Other candidates include Delano Mayor Bryan Osorio, also a Democrat, and two Republicans: Gregory Tatum and David Shepard.

Funders: Hurtado's biggest backers include employee unions for correctional officers, firefighters, school employees, and trade workers. Her campaign has raised more than $700,000 in the past year.

Campaign finance data for Para was not available on the California Secretary of State's online database. Osiro had raised about $50,000, mainly in small-dollar donations from locals.

State Assembly

32nd District

Geography: Most of Visalia and almost all eastern Tulare County, including Three Rivers and a large part of Kern County.

Candidates: Current State Assemblyman Vince Fong  (R-Bakersfield) is running unopposed. His campaign has raised $820,000 this election cycle. Largest contributors include the Santa Rosa Rancheria tribe, beer-maker Anheuser Busch and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield).

33rd District

Geography: Most of Tulare, a small part of Visalia and southern Tulare County, and most of Kings County, including the cities of Hanford and Lemoore.

Candidates: Current 26th District Assemblyman Devon Mathis (R-Visalia) is the clear frontrunner. Other candidates include Democrats Ruben Macareno and former Tulare Mayor Jose Sigala.

Macareno, a Farmersville councilman, is also a representative to the Tulare County Association of Governments, Council of Cities, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District and the county’s Homelessness Task Force.

Sigala was first elected to the Tulare City Council in 2016 and was reelected in 2020 to serve another four years after losing to Mathis a first time. Sigala was appointed Mayor in 2018 and served a two-year term.

Funders: Mathis has raised $318,000 this election cycle. Top contributors include tobacco companies Reynolds American and Philip Morris, beer-maker Anheuser Busch, as well as dairy groups and local tribes Santa Rosa Rancheria and Tule River.

Sigala has raised about $56,000, mainly from various employees' unions.

Tulare County Board of Supervisors

District 4

Geography: The redrawn District 4 seat covers a sliver of Visalia and the entirety of northern Tulare County, including the cities of Dinuba and Woodlake, as well as Cutler-Orosi and Three Rivers.

Candidates: Incumbent Eddie Valero is being challenged by three candidates: Dinuba teacher Kelley Culver, Dinuba businessman Scott Harness, and Air Force veteran and businessman Melvin Gong of Orosi.

If any candidate wins more than 50% of the vote during the June 7 Primary Election, they will take the seat. Otherwise, the top two vote-getters will rematch during the November General Election.

Funders: Valero has raised about $55,000 this year, primarily from local businesses and other elected San Joaquin Valley Democrats. Harness had raised about $27,000 this year, primarily from agricultural interests and individuals who did not disclose their employers.

Neither Culver nor Gong had raised more than $10,000.

District 5

Incumbent Dennis Townsend runs unopposed for the District 5 seat that covers southeast Tulare County, including the city of Porterville, Springville, Ducor, Terra Bella and Camp Nelson. His campaign has raised about $40,000 this year, primarily from farming interests.

Other races

Other offices up for election include Tulare County Sheriff-Coroner Mike Boudreaux, District Attorney Tim Ward, Superintendent of Education Tim Hire, Auditor-Controller Cass Cook, Assessor/Clerk-Recorder Tara Freitas, and several Superior Court judgeships.

Each of those candidates are running unopposed, meaning they will each be reelected to four-year terms during the June primary election without needing to progress to the November General Election.

In November, up to four Visalia City Council seats will be up for grabs. Those races do not appear on primary election ballots and instead are decided in November.

You can vote by dropping your signed mail ballot off at a certified drop box, or by visiting one of 42 polling places across the county on Tuesday. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Check www.visaliatimesdelta.com on Election Day for updated results as ballots are counted and processed by election officials.

Contributing: James Ward

Joshua Yeager is a reporter with the Visalia Times-Delta and a Report for America corps member. He covers Tulare County news deserts with a focus on the environment and local governments. 

Follow him on Twitter @VTD_Joshy. Get alerts and keep up on all things Tulare County for as little as $1 a month. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Tulare County registrar: 'Folks need to get out and vote,' turnout low so far