Jasmeet Kaur Bains (born July 2, 1985) is an American physician and politician serving as a member of the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

for the

35th Military units *35th Fighter Wing, an air combat unit of the United States Air Force *35th Infantry Division (United States), a formation of the National Guard since World War I *35th Infantry Regiment (United States), a regiment created on 1 July 1 ...

district since 2022. Bains is often described as one of the more moderate Democrats in the Assembly and is the first South Asian American woman and

Sikh American American Sikhs form the country's sixth-largest religious group. While the U.S. Census does not ask about religion, 70,697 Americans (or of the total population) declared Sikh as their ethnicity in the 2020 census. The U.S. Census Bureau cites ...

elected to the body.

Early life and education

Bains was born in

Delano, California Delano ( ) is a city in Kern County, California, United States. Delano is located about north-northwest of Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield at an elevation of . The population was 51,428 in 2020, down from 53,041 in 2010. It is Kern Count ...

, to

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

immigrants from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, where her father started as an auto mechanic then owned

car dealership A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive maintena ...

s and her mother was a bookkeeper. She earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

from the

Illinois Institute of Technology The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...

in 2006 and a

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

from the

American University of Antigua American University of Antigua (AUA) is a private for-profit international medical school located in Antigua and Barbuda. History AUA was co-founded by Neal S. Simon, a lawyer and former president of Ross University. AUA began instruction ...

in 2013.

Career

Bains was working at her father’s

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

dealership in

Taft, California Taft (formerly Moron, Moro, and Siding Number Two) is a city in the foothills at the extreme southwestern edge of the San Joaquin Valley, in Kern County, California. Taft is located west-southwest of Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield, at an ...

, at the beginning of the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

and was inspired to go into the medical field after witnessing her rural community's healthcare system breakdown. From 2015 to 2018, Bains was a

resident physician Residency or postgraduate training is a stage of graduate medical education. It refers to a qualified physician (one who holds the degree of MD, DO, MBBS/MBChB), veterinarian ( DVM/VMD, BVSc/BVMS), dentist ( DDS or DMD), podiatrist ( DPM), o ...

at Clinica Sierra Vista in

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of th ...

. She worked as a

family medicine Family medicine is a medical specialty that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body. The specialist, who is usually a primary care physician, is ...

physician at Omni Family Health from 2018 to 2020. In 2017, Bains was appointed to the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission by

California Governor The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, th ...

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...

. She also served as a member of the California Developmental Services Taskforce and as a volunteer physician for the

California Emergency Medical Services Authority The California Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA or EMS Authority) is an agency of California State government. The California EMS Authority is one of the thirteen departments within the California Health and Human Services Agency. Th ...

California State Assembly

Elections

Bains was first elected to the

for the 35th district in November

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, defeating fellow Democrat Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez with 60% of the vote. The district is majority Latino and located within

Kern County Kern County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield. Kern County compris ...

. She was re-elected in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, defeating Republican candidate Robert Rosas with 57% of the vote. The ''San Joaquin Valley Sun'' reported in April 2025 that Bains was "actively being recruited by the

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises funds and organizes races in ...

and some California House Democrats to run against avidValadao" in the 2026 United States House of Representatives election. A month later, Bains appeared in an

independent expenditure An independent expenditure, in elections in the United States, is a political campaign communication that expressly advocates for the election or defeat of a clearly identified political candidate that is not made in cooperation, consultation or ...

political advertisement calling for Valadao to vote against funding cuts to

Medi-Cal The California Medical Assistance Program (Medi-Cal or MediCal) is the California implementation of the federal Medicaid program serving low-income individuals, including families, seniors, persons with disabilities, children in foster care, preg ...

, aired by a

political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...

funded by SEIU CA and local healthcare and homecare unions.

Tenure

In August 2023, Bains passed a bill recognizing the 1984 Sikh genocide and received numerous threats afterwards. She also co-sponsored

state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Aisha Wahab's SB 403 which would ban

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

discrimination.

Oil and gas

Bains has voted against numerous Democratic proposals and with Republicans on bills that would harm the California oil and gas industry. In April 2023,

Speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

Anthony Rendon Anthony Michael Rendon (, ; born June 6, 1990) is an American baseball third baseman for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played for the Washington Nationals and was a member of the Nationals' 2019 World S ...

removed Bains from the Assembly Business and Professions Committee after she was the lone Democrat to vote against a bill targeting oil companies over gas

price gouging Price gouging is the practice of increasing the prices of goods, services, or commodities to a level much higher than is considered reasonable or fair by some. This commonly applies to price increases of basic necessities after natural disaste ...

. She was reinstated a month later and stated that her vote represented Kern County's interests as an oil-producing region.

Healthcare

In September 2024,

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...

signed Bains' "Grow Our Own" bill which would mandate and establish a new funding pool for the creation of a new

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

located in Kern County to address healthcare disparities in the region. In April 2025, Bains stated "I am completely offended by the comments made about healthcare for

undocumented immigrants Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to do so. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, wi ...

...The idea that covering undocumented healthcare will increase healthcare costs is a completely nonsensical argument" after Republicans argued for cutting

access to undocumented immigrants.

Public safety

Bains broke from the

California Democratic Party The California Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in Sacramento, the state capital. With 46.59% of the state's registered voters as of February 2024, the Democratic ...

and supported Proposition 36 in 2024, which would increase penalties for certain theft and drug offenses. In April 2025, Bains introduced a bill to raise the minimum sentencing of child torture from seven to twenty years. In May, Bains wrote a letter to the

California Attorney General The attorney general of California is the state attorney general of the government of California. The officer must ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (Constitution of California, Article V, Section 13). The ...

's office questioning why the former Kern County Supervisor Zack Scrivner was charged with

child cruelty Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, emotional and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...

and possession of an

assault rifle An assault rifle is a select fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge, intermediate-rifle cartridge and a Magazine (firearms), detachable magazine.C. Taylor, ''The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat'', F.A. Moyer '' ...

instead of child sexual abuse charges. The

California Department of Justice The California Department of Justice is a statewide investigative law enforcement agency and legal department of the California executive branch under the elected leadership of the Attorney General of California (AG) which carries out comple ...

responded saying that it only filed charges that could be proven "

beyond a reasonable doubt Beyond (a) reasonable doubt is a legal standard of proof required to validate a criminal conviction in most adversarial legal systems. It is a higher standard of proof than the standard of balance of probabilities (US English: preponderance of t ...

.",

Electoral history

2024

2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bains, Jasmeet 1986 births 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the California State Legislature American politicians of Indian descent American Sikhs Family physicians Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly Illinois Institute of Technology alumni Living people People from Bakersfield, California People from Delano, California Physicians from California Women state legislators in California