Central Valley Daily

Apr. 16: Why Did Bernie Sanders Visit Bakersfield? He Tells Us.

By Elizabeth Arakelian,

Published April 16, 2025 at 5:00 AM PDT

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Senator Bernie Sanders, along with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes, stopped in Bakersfield for his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour on Tuesday. But not all the thousands who showed up were “feeling the Bern.” KVPR sat down with the senator to discuss why he stopped in the historically conservative town.

Plus, the latest news headlines: an escaped convict from Kern County is wanted for murder in Mexico, a Democratic challenger enters the race for Congressman David Valadao’s seat, and a food truck fight in Fresno’s popular River Park area.

Central Valley Daily

Elizabeth Arakelian

A Valley native, Elizabeth earned her bachelor's degree in English Language Literatures from the University of California, Santa Cruz and her master's degree in journalism from New York University. She has covered a range of beats. Her agriculture reporting for the Turlock Journal earned her a first place award from the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

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Joshua Yeager

Joshua Yeager is a Report For America corps reporter covering Kern County for KVPR.

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Jonathan Linden

Jonathan Linden is a podcast producer at KVPR. Born and raised in Riverside, he's a Southern California native. Jonathan's passion for public radio began at a young age when his brother would play NPR while driving him home from middle school. He earned his B.A. in journalism from Biola University in 2019.

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