# Kern County Board of Education, Trustee Area 3

Compare records and positions simply between Anastasia Hopper, Mary Little, and 1 more for Kern County Board of Education, Trustee Area 3 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person serves on the Kern County Board of Education. The board has 7 members. It runs special education and alternative education programs for the county. It also hears school appeals and decides county budget matters. The term is four years.

- Jurisdiction: School District
- Election: November 3, 2026 California general election
- Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements.
- Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/kern-boe-area-3
- Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/
- Sources last retrieved: September 7, 2026
- Source-objectivity score: 90 out of 100 (Very strong), across 12 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **Anastasia Hopper**
- **Mary Little** — Incumbent
- **Regina Velasquez**

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

Kern County's Board of Education has a genuine three way race for its Trustee Area 3 seat. The election is November 3, 2026. Mary Little, the 30 year incumbent, faces two first time challengers. They are Regina Velasquez and Anastasia Hopper. It is 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. She was first elected in 1994 and ran unopposed as recently as 2018. She has resided in Bakersfield since 1974. She worked 20 years as a CPS social worker. She 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. She also has two prior careers, in social work and disability advocacy. Both touch the same people the county's special education programs serve.

**Trade-offs:** Her 2022 reelection was a 50.8% to 49.2% squeaker, not a comfortable win. She also 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 was found. Her job background comes from the county board's own site. It does not come from a campaign statement or third party profile.

## Regina Velasquez

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

**Strengths:** A track record of showing up to run, in three different Kern area races since 2020. Velasquez's own campaign material centers on child welfare and school community partnership.

**Trade-offs:** Their two prior runs ended badly. They drew 0.3% as an Assembly write in. They then lost a primary for county supervisor. No independent coverage of this campaign was found.

**Keep in mind:** They have no campaign committee registered with the state. California's Secretary of State lists only a bare candidate filer entry under their name. That is the same records only footprint as this contest's other challenger.

## Anastasia Hopper

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

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

**Trade-offs:** As a first time candidate Hopper has no voting record or prior public office to evaluate. Their proposals so far are recommendations to an existing board, not tested administrative experience.

**Keep in mind:** They have no campaign committee or candidate filer entry registered with the state at all. That is the thinnest financial disclosure footprint of the three candidates in this race.

## Sources

1. [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) and showing each as "ON BALLOT 1 3 3", i.e. three qualified candidates apiece (Area 7: Lori Cisneros, Ernie Bell Jr., Jeanine Adams -- qualified 8/7/2026, p. 15); 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](https://www.kernvote.com/home/showpublisheddocument/25735/639225807147400000)
2. [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.)](https://www.bakersfield.com/news/local-election-filing-closes-with-six-potential-candidates-for-ward-3/article_9fd8aab6-a8d5-4ec0-bf01-1fb95bb2c4ec.html)
3. [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](https://kern.org/board-of-education/)
4. [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)](https://kern.org/board-of-education/trustee-area-3/)
5. [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](https://ballotpedia.org/Mary_Little)
6. [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](https://www.kget.com/politics/your-local-elections/updated-super-tuesday-election-results/)
7. [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](https://www.therip.com/news/2020/03/06/local-election-recap/)
8. [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](https://www.bakersfield.com/news/city-council-incumbents-draw-challengers-ahead-of-aug-7-filing-deadline/)
9. [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](https://citizenportal.ai/kern-county-office-of-education)
10. [California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Mary Little Kern": no results; no campaign committee registered under her name for this race](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=Mary%20Little%20Kern)
11. [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](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=Velasquez)
12. [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](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=Hopper)

## The rest of the ballot

Kern County Board of Education, Trustee Area 3 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/

## How to cite this page

Vote or Else, "Kern County Board of Education, Trustee Area 3 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/kern-boe-area-3 (sources last retrieved September 7, 2026).

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