Rubio moves firmly into the 16th District
By THE BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNAN
He wasn't told by the Secretary of State he had to move. He wasn't told by the county of Kern he had to move.
But 16th District state senate candidate Michael Rubio and his family picked up and moved anyway last week -- from east to southeast Bakersfield -- after learning that the Rubio household was located less than 100 feet outside the 16th District.
A 10-year-old mapping error by the Kern County elections office had placed Rubio in the 16th and even had Rubio and his neighbors voting in the 16th.
Turns out the Quincy Street house is actually in the 18th District.
Rubio, a Democrat, ran unopposed in the June primary and has been widely expected to win the seat in November. He'll face Republican Tim Thiesen.
It's ironic, he said, that while many candidates move into political districts for political reasons, he has always called the 16th District home.
"My name is going to be on the ballot," he said Friday.
Because the Quincy Street home was listed on county election department maps as being in the 16th, Rubio said he technically could have remained in the house.
But "technically" wasn't good enough.
"I had to make it right," he said.
So last weekend, a large group of friends and supporters showed up with several pickup trucks and moved the Rubios to Pioneer Ranch, a neighborhood near Highway 58 and Oswell Street.
Moving so abruptly from the home they love was costly, both financially and emotionally, said Rubio.
"I am extremely grateful for the overwhelming number of people who have come out to support us," he said.
-- Staff writer Steven Mayer
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