Skip to main content

School District · Statewide General Election

Kern County Board of Education, Trustee Area 3

Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

This person sits on the 7-member Kern County Board of Education: it sets policy for the County Superintendent of Schools' office, which runs the county's own special-education and alternative-education programs, hears expulsion and inter-district-transfer appeals from local school districts, and decides county-level budget and property matters. A 4-year term.

Kern County's Board of Education has a genuine three-way race for its Trustee Area 3 seat on November 3, 2026: 30-year incumbent Mary Little faces two first-time challengers, Regina Velasquez and Anastasia Hopper. It's a direct November election with no June primary for this office -- whoever gets the most votes wins outright.

The winner serves a 4-year term on the county's 7-member Board of Education, one of seven geographic trustee areas. The board sets policy for the County Superintendent of Schools' office, decides county-level budget and property matters, and hears expulsion and inter-district-transfer appeals from local school districts. Area 3 is one of two trustee areas on this ballot that cross county lines: the county's own candidate-filing document lists it as "shared with" Tulare County.

The choice weighs three decades of board continuity against two fresh entrants. Little points to her tenure since 1994, while Velasquez -- a repeat candidate for county supervisor and state Assembly -- and Hopper, a first-timer who has already shown up at board meetings to push specific proposals, both offer a break from an incumbent whose last two elections were closer than her first 24 years in office.

Mary Little

Mary Little is the Area 3 incumbent, first elected in 1994 and unopposed as recently as 2018. She has resided in Bakersfield since 1974, worked 20 years as a CPS social worker, and now works part-time as a legal videographer and Social Security disability advocate. Her 2022 reelection was close: she beat challenger Dena Murphy by less than one percentage point.

Strengths

Three decades of board experience since 1994, plus two prior careers in social work and disability advocacy that touch the same population the county's special-education programs serve.

Trade-offs

Her 2022 reelection was a 50.8%-49.2% squeaker, not a comfortable win, and she lost a 2024 primary bid for county supervisor by a wide margin, finishing third of three.

Keep in mind

No independent news coverage of her specific board votes or record surfaced this pass; her occupational background comes from the county board's own site, not a campaign statement or third-party profile.

Regina Velasquez

Regina Velasquez is a first-time county board of education candidate with a documented history of running for other offices: a 2020 write-in bid for the 34th Assembly District that drew 321 votes, and a 2020 primary run for Kern County Supervisor, District 4. She also pulled papers for Bakersfield City Council Ward 3 this cycle but never returned them, running for the county board seat instead.

Strengths

A track record of showing up to run, in three different Kern-area races since 2020, and a platform centered on child welfare and school-community partnership per her own campaign material.

Trade-offs

Her two prior runs ended badly -- 0.3% as an Assembly write-in and a primary loss for county supervisor -- and no independent coverage of this specific campaign surfaced this pass.

Keep in mind

She has no campaign committee registered with the state; California's Secretary of State lists only a bare candidate filer entry under her name, the same records-only footprint as this contest's other challenger.

Anastasia Hopper

Anastasia Hopper is a first-time candidate who has been an active presence at Kern County Board of Education meetings this election cycle, using public comment to push three specific proposals: funding UVC air purifiers, auditing transportation for homeless and special-education students, and making school attendance a standing board agenda item.

Strengths

Specific, board-relevant policy proposals delivered directly to the sitting board in public comment, not just campaign talking points, per the board's own meeting coverage.

Trade-offs

As a first-time candidate she has no voting record or prior public office to evaluate, and her proposals so far are recommendations to an existing board, not tested administrative experience.

Keep in mind

She has no campaign committee or candidate filer entry registered with the state at all -- the thinnest financial-disclosure footprint of the three candidates in this race.

Source review: Very strong (90/100) · 12 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context.

  • kernvote.com (opens in a new tab)Kern County Elections Division -- official "Contest/Candidate Proof List" (report CFMR001) for the November 3, 2026 General Election: within its county-office section, only two contests appear -- Board of Education Trustee Areas 3 and 7 -- naming each area's incumbent (Mary Margaret Little, Lorena Joy Cisneros); no Board of Supervisors, Sheriff, District Attorney, Assessor, Auditor-Controller-County Clerk, Treasurer-Tax Collector, or Superior Court Judge contest appears anywhere in the 97-page document
  • bakersfield.com (opens in a new tab)The Bakersfield Californian -- "Local election filing closes, with six potential candidates for Ward 3" (Peter Segall, Aug. 7, 2026): transcribes the full Kern County Elections Division candidate roster as of 5 p.m. Aug. 7 for every county and local school-board office, including Board of Education Trustee Area 3 (Mary Little, incumbent; Regina Velasquez; Anastasia Hopper) and Trustee Area 7 (Lori Cisneros, incumbent; Ernie Bell Jr.)
  • kern.org (opens in a new tab)Kern County Board of Education -- its own landing page: a 7-member board, elected to staggered 4-year terms by area, that decides county budgeting and property matters and hears expulsion and inter-district-transfer appeals from local school districts
  • kern.org (opens in a new tab)Kern County Board of Education -- Trustee Area 3 page: names Mary M. Little, first elected 1994, and her biography (Bakersfield resident since 1974; CPS social worker for 20 years; now a legal videographer and Social Security disability advocate)
  • ballotpedia.org (opens in a new tab)Ballotpedia -- Mary Little: confirms her current Kern County Board of Education Area 3 term (ends Dec. 11, 2026), her 2022 reelection (50.8%-49.2% over Dena Murphy), her unopposed 2018 race, and her third-place finish (13.2%) in the March 2024 nonpartisan primary for Kern County Board of Supervisors, District 1
  • kget.com (opens in a new tab)KGET.com -- "Updated Super Tuesday election results" (March 13, 2020): the station's own results tally for the 34th Assembly District race records Regina Velasquez as a Democratic write-in candidate who drew 321 votes (0.30%), behind winners Vince Fong and Julie Solis
  • therip.com (opens in a new tab)The Renegade Rip (Bakersfield College's student newspaper) -- "Local election recap" (March 6, 2020): its own results roundup for the March 2020 primary lists Regina Velasquez as a candidate in the Kern County Supervisor, 4th District race, won by David Couch
  • bakersfield.com (opens in a new tab)The Bakersfield Californian -- "City Council incumbents draw challengers ahead of Aug. 7 filing deadline" (July 31, 2026): names Regina Velasquez among Bakersfield City Council Ward 3 candidates who pulled but had not yet returned nomination papers as of that date -- her Ward 3 bid was never certified, distinct from her qualified County Board of Education filing
  • citizenportal.ai (opens in a new tab)citizenportal.ai -- coverage of the Kern County Board of Education's own Aug. 11 and Aug. 14, 2026 public meetings: records Anastasia Hopper, identified as a Trustee Area 3 candidate, speaking in public comment to urge the board to fund UVC air purifiers, audit transportation for homeless and special-education students, and make attendance a standing agenda item
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Mary Little Kern": no results; no campaign committee registered under her name for this race
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Velasquez": the only match plausibly tied to this race is a bare "VELASQUEZ, REGINA" CANDIDATE entry with no registered committee
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Hopper": no match for Anastasia Hopper; no campaign committee or candidate filer entry registered under her name

Last updated August 31, 2026.