Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a special election in May to fill a state Senate seat in the Central Valley that opened after a moderate Democrat quit to work for Chevron.
On Friday, the governor said the primary for the 16th Senate District seat will be May 21. The special runoff election, if needed, will be July 23.
The district, formerly represented by Democrat Michael Rubio, includes Kings County and parts of Fresno, Kern and Tulare counties. While its boundaries have changed since redistricting, the special election will be held under the previous district because Rubio resigned in mid-term.
According to the California Target Book, Democrats are 50 percent of registered voters, compared to 28 percent for Republicans.
Democrats want to retrain the seat to help maintain their supermajority status.
