Ripon resident joins race for Assembly 12th District seat

A fourth Republican has announced candidacy for the 12th Assembly District seat being vacated in 2016 when Kristin Olsen, R-Riverbank, leaves office after three two-year terms. Ripon resident Heath Flora threw his hat in the ring with an announcement Thursday.

Flora is director for international sales at the Exact Corp., a Modesto business that makes products for nut harvesting and for forcible-entry firefighting equipment. He also owns Golden Valley Equipment, which sells used agricultural equipment; grows almonds on the west side of Modesto and in Kern County; and has been a volunteer firefighter for 15 years, he said.

In a news release, Flora pledges to fight groundwater “regulatory schemes that will allow government bureaucrats to stop pumping water that’s needed for crops and livestock.” He also promises to “continue Assemblywoman Olsen’s fight to ensure water storage facilities are built at Sites Reservoir and Temperance Flats and that the projects are built as quickly as possible.” In addressing the economy, Flora says he would work to “remove regulatory obstacles to job creation.”

Others who say they have begun campaigning to succeed Olsen are Modesto City Schools board member Cindy Marks, former San Joaquin County Supervisor Ken Vogel and Modesto Councilman Bill Zoslocki. The 12th Assembly District covers eastern Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties and Turlock, Manteca and part of Modesto.

This story was originally published May 8, 2015 at 1:55 PM with the headline "Ripon resident joins race for Assembly 12th District seat."