Melissa Hurtado (born March 6, 1988) is an American politician serving in the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Cal ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, she represents the 16th Senate District, which encompasses

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

, Kings County, and parts of

Tulare County Tulare County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 473,117. The county seat is Visalia. The county is named for Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lakes. ...

. Prior to being elected to the State Senate, she served on the Sanger

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

. Hurtado was first elected to the State Senate in November 2018, defeating incumbent

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Andy Vidak James Andrew Vidak (born November 13, 1965) is an American politician. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, he served in the California State Senate, representing the California's 14th State Senate district, 14th Senate District, whic ...

. On July 7, 2020, Hurtado was selected to serve on then-candidate Joe Biden's National Latino Leadership Committee. In 2022, Hurtado ran for election in the redrawn 16th district, winning with 50.01% of the vote.

References

External links

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Campaign website
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Melissa Hurtado
1988 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Democratic Party California state senators California State University, Sacramento alumni Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in California Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Living people California Democrats People from Fresno, California People from Sanger, California Women city councillors in California Women state legislators in California {{California-CASenate-stub