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Mayoral election in Bakersfield, California (2024)

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← 2020
2024 Bakersfield elections
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Election dates
Filing deadline: December 8, 2023
Primary election: March 5, 2024
General election: November 5, 2024 (canceled)
Election stats
Offices up: Mayor
Total seats up: 1 (click here for other city elections)
Election type: Nonpartisan
Other municipal elections
U.S. municipal elections, 2024

The city of Bakersfield, California, held a primary election for mayor on March 5, 2024. If no candidate had received a majority of the votes, a general election would have been held on November 5, 2024. The filing deadline for this election was December 8, 2023.

As of 2024, Bakersfield did not have term limits for the position of mayor. Mayors served a four-year term.


Elections

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Candidates and results

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of Bakersfield

Incumbent Karen Goh won election outright against Gregory Tatum in the primary for Mayor of Bakersfield on March 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Karen Goh
Karen Goh (Nonpartisan)
 
83.2
 
44,735
Image of Gregory Tatum
Gregory Tatum (Nonpartisan)
 
16.8
 
9,039

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 53,774
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Additional elections on the ballot

See also: California elections, 2024

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March 5, 2024
March 19, 2024
May 21, 2024
November 5, 2024

Candidate profiles

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No candidate in this race has completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Ballotpedia is seeking 100 percent participation so voters can learn more about all the candidates on their ballots.


Mayoral partisanship

See also: Partisanship in United States municipal elections (2024)

Thirty-four of the 100 largest cities held mayoral elections in 2024. Once mayors elected in 2024, assumed office Democrats held 65 top-100 mayoral offices, Republicans 25, Libertarians held one, independents held two, and nonpartisan mayors held four. Three mayors' partisan affiliations were unknown.

The following top 100 cities saw a change in mayoral partisan affiliation in 2024:[1]


What was at stake?

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Candidate survey

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About the city

See also: Bakersfield, California

Bakersfield is a city in California and the county seat of Kern County. As of 2020, its population was 403,455.

City government

See also: Council-manager government

The city of Bakersfield uses a council-manager system. In this form of municipal government, an elected city council—which includes the mayor and serves as the city's primary legislative body—appoints a chief executive called a city manager to oversee day-to-day municipal operations and implement the council's policy and legislative initiatives.[3][4]

Demographics

The following table displays demographic data provided by the United States Census Bureau.

Demographic Data for Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield California
Population 403,455 39,538,223
Land area (sq mi) 149 155,857
Race and ethnicity**
White 61.1% 56.1%
Black/African American 7.4% 5.7%
Asian 7.3% 14.8%
Native American 0.8% 0.8%
Pacific Islander 0.2% 0.4%
Other (single race) N/A 14.3%
Multiple 8.9% 7.9%
Hispanic/Latino 51.1% 39.1%
Education
High school graduation rate 81.4% 83.9%
College graduation rate 22.6% 34.7%
Income
Median household income $65,687 $78,672
Persons below poverty level 17.2% 12.6%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.


See also

Bakersfield, California California Municipal government Other local coverage
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External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ As of January 7, 2025, the party affiliation of one mayor elected in 2024 was unknown. Ballotpedia contacted El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson's campaign in December to inquire about his party affiliation and had not yet received a reply. As incumbent Oscar Leeser was a Democrat, this decreased the net gain for Democrats from two to one.
  2. ↑ [San Antonio Express-News, "‘I’m a Democrat’: Mayor Ron Nirenberg campaigns for Kamala Harris, embraces party label," September 14, 2024]
  3. ↑ Bakersfield City Charter, "Art. III," accessed on October 29, 2014
  4. ↑ City of Bakersfield, "Form of Government," accessed October 29, 2014
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