BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The race for State Senate District 16 has yet to be called, as there is only a 20 vote difference between Democratic incumbent Melissa Hurtado and Republican challenger David Shepard.
Districtwide, Hurtado currently holds 68,457 votes while Shepard has 68,437 votes. In Kern County, Hurtado leads comfortably with 35,992 votes against Shepard's 26,025.
Shepard released a statement on Saturday in which he urged vigilance over such a small margin, saying Kern County Elections misreported the number of votes they had to the Secretary of State. Shepard contends the county was in possession of 10,000 fewer ballots than they ended up counting.
Due to this issue, Shepard says he might request a recount, saying his team is closely monitoring the issues and wants to make sure all the ballots are counted.
Despite there beingdays until the deadline for the Secretary of State to certify the election results, Hurtado announced that she was sworn in as District 16 Senator on Twitter.
It was my honor to be sworn in today as California’s State Senator representing the 16th District.
— Melissa Hurtado (@MHurtadoCA) December 11, 2022
Thank you to the voters who have put their trust in me. I look forward to continuing my work fighting for the Valley. Together, we can make our Valley strong. pic.twitter.com/zUelakqrWp
23ABC reached out to both David Shepard and to Mary Bedard with the Kern County Elections Office for their comments, but have not yet heard back from either of them.