Fresno County businessman Michael Maher said Thursday that he’s running for the California 12th Senate District seat that will become vacant when Shannon Grove terms out next year.

Maher, a Republican who lost two bids to unseat Rep. Jim Costa (D-Fresno) in Congress, cited his experience as an FBI special agent and military service as providing him with the credentials and perspective to succeed as a state lawmaker.

“Veterans like J.D. Vance, Pete Hegseth, Mike Waltz, and many others from my generation — who wore the uniform post 9/11 — are now leading this country into a New Golden Age,” Maher said in a campaign news release. “Meanwhile, California is collapsing under a leadership crisis driven by the cronyism of lifetime politicians and corrupt bureaucrats.

“I want to restore our state’s gleaming gold standard, one that once filled people with optimism and inspired them to invest their family’s future here in California.”

Grove, a Bakersfield Republican and army veteran, has served in the state Senate since 2018 and was the Senate minority leader from March 1, 2019, to Jan. 20, 2021. She also served in the Assembly from 2010 to 2016.

About the 12th Senate District

The 12th Senate District covers the southeastern Central Valley and the northwestern corner of the Mojave Desert. It includes portions of Kern, Tulare, and Fresno counties. The voter registration is 44.9% Republican, 28.49% Democratic, and 18.5% no party preference.

More About Maher

Maher spent his early years in Kern County before graduating from Tulare Union High School in 2001. He later married into a Valley farming family and lives in Fresno County with his wife and two sons.

Maher enlisted in the U.S. Navy shortly after 9/11 and served aboard a nuclear submarine deployed out of San Diego.

His education includes the U.S. Naval Academy Preparatory School, Fresno Pacific University, Naval Nuclear Power School, Oxford University, Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government Senior Executive Fellows program, and graduation from the FBI Academy at Quantico.