BAKERSFIELD, Calif. KERO) — This Friday is the deadline for nominations to be accepted for the Kern County Board of Supervisors District 2 seat — following Zack Scrivner’s resignation — and a few residents have already thrown their names into the hat.
- In response to Scrivner’s resignation, state law requires the election take place during a scheduled state general election. The nearest is November 5.
- State law also requires the nomination period take place 88 days before the election, meaning candidates only have until August 9 to gather signatures, file paperwork, and pay filing fees.
This Friday is the deadline for nominations to be accepted for the Kern County Board of Supervisors District 2 seat — following Zack Scrivner’s resignation — and a few residents have already thrown their names into the hat.
“I would like to see that we get leadership as soon as possible,” said Josh Taylor of the Southwest Carpenters Union 743.
Taylor among a group of members from the Southwest Carpenters Union voicing their concerns to the Board of Supervisors regarding the limited timeline given for candidates to file for the District 2 County Supervisor election.
In response to Scrivner’s resignation, state law requires the election take place during a scheduled state general election. The nearest is November 5.
“I was satisfied with county council’s response as far as what would constitute a general election as well as there were options for 2025 and 2026,” Taylor said. “It would have been wonderful to see the board approve an election further out to allow for a more equitable filing period.”
State law also requires the nomination period take place 88 days before the election, meaning candidates only have until August 9 to gather signatures, file paperwork, and pay filing fees.
Even before supervisors approved the election, two candidates already announced their intentions.
One of those candidates, Peter Graff, ran against Scrivner and Kelly Carden in 2022. Graff stated his intention is to bring more focus to District 2’s various areas outside Tehachapi.
“It’s neglect, you look at taft, you look at Frazier Park you look at eastern kern county these are all highly neglected areas,” Graff said.
Graff looking to pull papers alongside his potential opponent Dale Cisneros, a longtime Tehachapi resident and business-owner.
Cisneros said he’s been considering running for supervisor for years now, and even before the seat was vacated he believed a change was needed.
“Our prayers are for them but he needed to step down before then and now were left with no time, 4 days for me to file and get signatures and get campaign funds together,” he said.
Cisneros and his wife saying that the lack of time for nominations is unfortunate but they have previous experience with elections. Dale’s wife has run for and served on the Kern County Board of Education.
“We’re connected to the farm community, the education community, Dale’s connected to the business community,” said Lori Cisneros.
According to the Kern County Elections Office, candidates need to garner between 20 to 40 signatures for nomination, pay a filing fee of $1,104.25,. and be a resident of the district they plan to represent.
To accommodate candidate filing the elections office has extended their hours to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
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