KERN COUNTY, Calif. (KERO) — As the mid-term elections close in, 23ABC turns its attention to the battle for state Senate in District 16, one of several voting districts that were redrawn. GOP newcomer David Shepard won the primary election in June and is facing Democratic Senator Melissa Hurtado, formerly of District 14.
Shepard told 23ABC that he is working to build off the momentum from last summer. According to Shepard, he is a fourth-generation farmer in the Central Valley and his support is "growing."
"We are feeling like there's groundswell movement taking place. Overall, it's just a lot of work. It's kind of a grind till the end."
Shepard won the June primary with 43 percent of the vote out of five candidates. Melissa Hurtado was second with nearly 30 percent. Shepard said he is focusing on Latino outreach in the final week before the mid-term elections.
"A national trend that's taking place across America of Latinos leaving the Democrat party and coming over to the Republican party. I see this as not just the future of my district, but the future of the Republican party and the Republican party in the state of California. If we want to win statewide offices, if we want to win some of the state legislative seats, it starts with the Latino vote and I feel like I'm kind of the spearhead for that here in the state."
Shepard also targeted what he called "the Democrats' soft-on-crime policies."
"Really, there's not being any repercussions for people that choose to break the law. This is an issue that transcends political party. People have seen that Democratic policies have just continued to fail."
Shepard also claimed that more law enforcement organizations are backing his campaign over Hurtado's.
"Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer had endorsed Melissa Hurtado. Melissa had taken a vote to not make human trafficking a serious and violent felony and at that moment, Cynthia Zimmer pulled her endorsement from Melissa Hurtado and decided to back my campaign."
It remains to be seen where the voters of the other three candidates in June's primary will send their support on November 8th. Shepard hopes it will be his campaign, as in his view, he is the one who wanted to represent the district from the beginning.
"Melissa having chosen to run in this district secondhand after running against Anna Caballero in District 14 just shows that she was never prioritizing us in the first place. She had aspirations for other places. When that didn't work out, we were just the afterthought. She decided to run her best race."
Shepard will watch the returns on election night from the Tulare Golf Course. He said that it was where he first decided to run for office.
23ABC is scheduled to talk to Senator Hurtado at a later time.