POLITICAL NOTEBOOK : March 2 Special Election Will Fill Vacant Senate Seat
Gov. Pete Wilson has set March 2 for a special election to replace state Sen. Don Rogers (R-Bakersfield) in a district that includes portions of Altadena and Pasadena.
The winner of the contest in the 16th Senate District will serve out the two remaining years of Rogers’ term. He was elected in November to a new four-year term in the 17th Senate District after redistricting.
The sprawling 16th District is centered in Kern County, but about 15% of its population lives in a strip of northeastern Los Angeles County running from the Antelope Valley to the northern San Gabriel Valley.
Among the announced candidates to date are Assemblyman Jim Costa (D-Hanford), former Assemblyman Phillip Wyman (R-Tehachapi) and Bakersfield City Councilman Kevin McDermott, also a Republican. Wyman gave up his seat in an unsuccessful bid for Congress in June.
If no candidate receives a 50%-plus-one majority in March, a runoff election between the two top vote-getters will be held April 27, the governor said.
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
