Two dynamic women battle for chance to represent 35th Assembly District
Oct. 15—One has been serving in local government for more than a decade, and believes her years of experience have helped prepare her to represent Kern County residents in the Assembly's 35th District.
That candidate is veteran Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez.
The other candidate has never served in elected office, but believes that her years of experience as a primary care family doctor have provided her with a strong background for understanding Kern's local communities, and working toward solutions to their problems.
That candidate is Jasmeet Bains.
Perez, 45, and Bains, 37, recognized an opportunity to serve late last year when the state changed its political boundaries to reflect new 10-year census data. As a result, Democrat Rudy Salas' 32nd District left Kings County behind, focusing the district — renamed the 35th — in northwestern Kern County, with a "teardrop" shape reaching into east Bakersfield and beyond.
The district includes Lamont, Arvin, Shafter, Wasco, McFarland, Delano and Lost Hills. It is 61 percent Latino, the fourth-highest concentration of Latinos in any Assembly district in California, and it has a high Democratic voter registration advantage.
Salas is not seeking reelection at the state level, but is campaigning for U.S. Congress. He endorsed Perez's candidacy.
"I feel confident and optimistic that the work we have done, not just in the last 10 months, but in the last 10 years, is meaningful to Kern County," Perez said Friday as she sat at a table at Dagny's Coffee in downtown Bakersfield.
"It's meaningful in ways that actually matter in people's lives," she said of the work she and her team have undertaken.
Perez came out ahead on votes in the June primary, but not by much. In the end, the difference between the two candidates was only a few hundred votes.
Campaign finance reports filed early last week showed a huge funding advantage for Bains as the two candidates entered the final stretch of the general election campaign.
Bains raised more than $266,000 in the most recent reporting period and had $405,000 cash on hand as of Oct. 3 — more than double what Perez raised and had in reserve.
Bains said she's proud of her campaign's strong fundraising performance, and is confident that it will help get her message out — and ultimately win the general election.
"It's about getting a doctor with a sense of business, with an ear to the community and the community's problems into office," Bains said Friday.
Her belief that a physician's experience on the ground in Bakersfield provides a unique and deep understanding of the larger community was a theme she repeated.
"The soul of a doctor is a true leader," she said.
She's not a career politician, Bains added. She's a career physician.
Perez prides herself on being local and remaining local. She graduated from Highland High and earned a bachelor's degree from UC Santa Barbara and a law degree in Indiana.
"I'm not rich," she said. And according to Perez, that means she knows what Kern residents are dealing with as prices rise and wages don't.
She said it's true that the Bains campaign has more cash, but she's proud of the myriad supporters who give $25 or $50, and she suggested her opponent's campaign is supported by cash-rich special interests, not everyday voters.
Perez grew up alongside a dozen foster children in a family dedicated to community service, she said in a bio. Following her parents' example, Perez became active in political and social issues, as well as philanthropic efforts, from a young age.
She returned from law school in 2006, gravitating toward community service and representing indigent clients while volunteering on the boards of directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and New Life Recovery Training Center. She was selected by her peers as the first female president of Kern County Bar Association's Criminal Defense Section.
After a period of time serving as chair of the Kern County Planning Commission, she became the consultant for the California State Senate Committee on Economic Development and the State Permitting Process.
Those experiences, she said, will help her as a state legislator.
An east Bakersfield resident, Perez was appointed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown to the Board of State and Community Corrections and became the first Latina president of the California State Association of Counties.
She's always been about doing, not just talking, she said.
"There's a lot of talkers, but you gotta deliver."
Bains is the daughter of immigrant parents from India. She grew up in the valley and watched her father build a business, starting as an auto mechanic and ultimately owning successful car dealerships, according to a bio on her website.
She worked with her father after college before deciding to pursue a career in medicine.
After graduating from medical school, she returned home and completed her residency at Clinica Sierra Vista.
Today, she serves as medical director at Bakersfield Recovery Services overseeing substance abuse, addiction and mental health rehabilitation.
She was appointed by then-Gov. Brown to the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission and was awarded the 2019 Hero of Family Medicine by the California Academy of Family Physicians, as well as a 2021 Beautiful Bakersfield Award from the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce.
On Friday, Bains remembered meeting a 6-year-old boy in her waiting room who asked the kind of question no 6-year-old should ever have to ask.
"He turned to me and asked, 'What color do I wear so I don't get shot?'" Bains recalled.
"These are the problems I see in my clinic on a daily basis," she said.
Two dynamic candidates. One opportunity to serve in Sacramento. You decide.
Reporter Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.
