ANTELOPE VALLEY : 3rd Candidate Joins State Senate Race
State Assemblyman Jim Costa (D-Hanford) has announced that he will run in a special election to succeed state Sen. Don Rogers (R-Tehachapi).
Costa is the third major candidate to enter the race to serve out two remaining years of Rogers’ term in the 16th Senate District. The sprawling Senate district is centered in Kern County, but also covers portions of the Antelope Valley, Pasadena and Altadena as well as parts of Kings and San Bernardino counties.
Rogers won election to a different Senate district in November following a court-ordered reapportionment.
The other major announced candidates for Rogers’ old seat are former Assemblyman Phil Wyman of Tehachapi, a Republican, and Bakersfield City Councilman Kevin McDermott, also a Republican.
Bakersfield school board member Irma Carson, a Democrat, has talked about running but has not formally declared. The election is expected to be held in late April.
Costa, who has served in the Assembly since 1978, is a former chairman of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee.
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