California Senate District 14
Job Description
The Golden State’s upper legislative chamber will be filling 20 of its 40 total positions.
Working conditions will depend on the partisan breakdown of all new hires. With the current composition of the Senate—26 Democrats and 14 Republicans—Democrats are one position short of holding a supermajority. A supermajority in both the Assembly and Senate would allow Democrats, if united, to raise taxes, override vetoes, place constitutional amendments on the ballot, and give them the option to ignore their Republican colleagues.
Job duties include:
- Spend months drafting, discussing, and haggling over bills that will affect the lives of all Californians
- Retain the option of waiting until the very last week of session before passing or dumping most of said bills in a flurry
- Spend months drafting, discussing, and haggling over resolutions that will affect the lives of virtually no Californians
- Help craft a multi-billion-dollar budget for the state
- Strive to represent the interests of 1 million constituents, most of them strangers
Applicants
Melissa Hurtado
Health Advocate/Councilmember
Andy Vidak
Farmer/Small Businessman
HR Note
Incumbent Party: Republican
Democratic vs Republican Voter Registration: 19.8% D
Trump vs Clinton Margin, 2016: 22.7% Clinton
Margin of Victory in Last Election: 8.2%
Top Two Primary Applicants, June 2018: Andy Vidak (54.1%), Melissa Hurtado (23.2%)
Democratic vs Republican Vote Share, June 2018: 8.2% R
Voter registration in this Central Valley district favors Democrats, but the seat has been held by a Republican since Andy Vidak was hired 2013. Democrats spent big money to try to win it back in 2014, and will likely put up a fight again this year. Vidak is a cherry farmer whose supporters include ag and oil companies, prominent players in this farmbelt region. His opponent, Democrat Melissa Hurtado, is a former health care policy advocate and now sits on the city council of Sanger. She was endorsed early on by Fresno Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula. This is a competitive seat, so voters will shape the Legislature’s balance of power.
