05/12/2026
Candidate forum coming up Tuesday May 12 for senate race.
State Senate candidates to speak at May 12 forum
The Sun-Gazette
VISALIA ā In a state where inflation hits harder and the state budget is falling short, members of
both houses of the California Legislature play a vital role in how the San Joaquin Valley and the
state as whole collectively solve our biggest problems.
State Senators are one half of the bicameral body and, for Visalia area voters, one of the few
contested legislature races in this yearās Primary Election on June 2, 2026. Voters in State Senate
District 12 will have the opportunity to meet and question the candidates at a forum on May 12.
The forum will be at the Tulare County Office of Education, 6200 S. Mooney Blvd., in
Visalia. Doors open at 6 p.m. The forum will be from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
There are three candidates running to replace Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), who termed out
of the legislature after six years in the California Assembly and eight years in the State Senate.
The three candidates vying to represent District 12 on the California State Senate have all been
invited:
-Nathan Magsig, a Republican, and a Fresno County Supervisor from Clovis;
-William Brown, Jr., a Libertarian, and a social worker, and former Marine from Visalia;
-Louis Miramontes, a Republican, and an aircraft mechanic from Visalia.
The forum will give voters the chance to not only meet the candidates in person, but also to
submit questions from the audience.
If any candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the primary election, they will
immediately be elected to office starting with a new term in January 2027. If no candidate
garners more than 50% of the vote, the two candidates with the most votes will advance to a
runoff in the General Election on Nov. 4, 2026.
District 12 includes the unincorporated communities along the east side of the Valley stretching
from Auberry, California to the north and Lebec, California to the south. The cities represented
include Exeter, Clovis, Shafter, Taft, Maricopa, Tehachapi, Ridgecrest, California City, southern
Visalia, northern Fresno, and the western portion of Bakersfield.
The candidates have agreed to address questions directed to them by the sponsoring
organizations and accept prescreened questions from the audience.
Sponsors are:
-League of Women Voters of Tulare County
-American Association of University Women
-Valley Voice online newspaper.
-Tulare County League of Mexican American Women
-Sun-Gazette newspaper
The event will be streamed and posted online. Spanish language interpretation will be provided.
