Melissa Hurtado

Melissa Hurtado is the Democratic incumbent for California State Senate District 16, representing California's Central Valley, per her official Senate website. She was elected to the State Senate in 2018, becoming the youngest woman ever elected to that chamber, after serving on the Sanger City Council beginning in 2016, per the same source. She holds a political science degree from Sacramento State University and has focused her legislative work on water, food security and health access in the Central Valley, per her official Senate website.