Leticia Perez gets help from Congressman Jim Costa while campaigning for the open State Senate seat. Perez worked for Michael Rubio, who resigned midway through his term.
"I went to law school, came home, and have spent my entire adult life focusing on improving the quality of life for other people. So this is an opportunity to do it for the state, for Central Valley families," said Perez.
The 16th district includes portions of Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Kern counties. Andy Vidak is a cherry farmer from Hanford. If he makes it to Sacramento, he hopes to grow jobs.
"We are taxed higher than any other state for small business. We need to start rolling that stuff back, less regulations so people can start businesses," said Vidak.
While candidates are spending time getting out the vote, workers at the county elections office are getting out ballots. Sample and absentee ballots are in the mail for registered voters.
"All the preliminary work has been done. We've begun processing the vote-by-mail ballot envelopes that we've received," said Brandi Orth, county clerk.
On Monday morning, a mock election is held to show interested residents how the whole process works. Everything is done the same as a regular election, only this one had fewer eligible voters in Fresno County. The expected turnout is very low.
"If we get 25%, I'll be really excited," said Orth.
If a candidate doesn't get a majority in the primary, a runoff will be held in July.