Early returns in BCSD race favor one incumbent, one challenger

Perry Smith, The Bakersfield Californian
·1 min read

Nov. 9—Trustees for Areas 2 and 4, somewhat in the middle of the district's boundaries, were on the ballot.

Those returns indicated that in Area 2, currently represented by Pam Baugher, the incumbent was trailing Anthony Fuentes, who had 41.52 percent of the votes tallied, or 619 votes, compared to 32.80 percent for Judy Olsson and 25.69 percent for Baugher.

This area includes Jefferson, Myra Noble and Stella Hills elementary schools, among others.

In Area 4, the race between incumbent Laura Guerrero-Salgado and challengers Mary Poehner and Isai Jimenez has Guerrero-Salgado in the lead, based on the very preliminary returns available late Tuesday night.

Guerrero-Salgado had tallied 35.52 percent, or 422 votes, compared to 415 for Poehner at 34.93 percent and 29.55 for Jimenez, who had 351 votes.

Area 4 includes Mount Vernon, Horace Mann and Voorhies elementary schools, as well as Sierra and Stiern middle schools among those in its boundaries.

Data from the 2021 redistricting effort indicated District 2 had about 19,899 residents in the voting-age population, the third-smallest number for the district, and District 4 had the second-smallest number at 18,892. There is a total of 104,725 residents of voting-age population in the district's five areas, according to figures released during the 2021 redistricting effort.