BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Newly elected 35th District Assemblywoman Dr. Jasmeet Bains held a ceremonial swearing-in at The Station in Northwest Bakersfield Friday morning.
Bains was officially sworn into the seat in Sacramento in December. During Friday’s event in front of family and friends, Kern County firefighters presented Dr. Bains with a helmet symbolic of their support for her.
She addressed the crowd, speaking about her roots in Delano, her background as a doctor and her election in November where she received 60% of the vote as a first-time candidate against Kern County Fifth District Supervisor Leticia Perez.
“Yes, a kid from Delano can become a doctor. Yes, a kid from Delano can stand here in front of you as the new Assemblywoman,” Bains said. “I’m very very happy in my background in Delano. We made it, we did it and we did well — over 60% my gosh … How does a frontline doctor take everything that they experienced during COVID-19 and use that to change what they saw? They do that by running for Assemblywoman.”
Bains is the first woman of Indian descent and the first Sikh to be elected to the California State Legislature.
She has made healthcare, especially the fentanyl crisis, a huge focus of her goals in office.
