BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) – Zach Scribner is no novice in politics. The man at the center of Thursday’s shocking events has been a constant presence in local government affairs for more than two decades.
Ten years ago, for example, when Kern County’s brightest political observers were asked to name the young public servant most likely to rise to notable heights in state or even federal government, many I would have chosen Zack Scribner. .
He served as a district representative for Representative Kevin McCarthy and as a district director for State Senator Jean Fuller. He was first elected to the Bakersfield City Council at the age of 30 and went undefeated in six general elections, the last four in Kern County’s 3,660-acre, largely desert and mountain district. Elected as Supervisor of District 2. 8,200 square miles.
His only major political liability up to that point was a 2010 felony arrest for selling marijuana at the University of California, Santa Barbara, a decade earlier. He survived it and solidified his position in District 2 over time.
Mr. Scribner served as Chairman of the Supervisory Board in 2012, 2017 and 2022, while maintaining his position as the Board’s representative to the Kern Council of Governments, the Kern Economic Development Corporation and the Kern Land Agency Establishment Committee.
He is not scheduled to face voters again until 2026.
Mr. Scribner, 50, is a conservative Republican with a 100 percent approval rating for the NRA in an all-red district. He has been mentioned numerous times as a future candidate for state representative.
His personal and political connections remained intact. His aunt, Cynthia Zimmer, is the Kern County District Attorney.
In 2022, his influence has become even more familial. His wife of 18 years, Christina, comes from a prominent Ridgecrest family and served on the Tehachapi City Council before being elected to the Kern College District board.
His mother, retired educator Kathy Scribner, is a first-term member of the Kern High School District Board of Trustees.
Scribner and his wife, who have four school-age children, separated last November, and his wife filed for divorce in March, citing irreconcilable differences.
Their divorce papers show they share custody of their children and mutual visitation rights.
