After news broke earlier this week that former Assemblywoman Connie Conway had dropped out of the race for the state’s 16th District Senate seat it looked like it was a clear path of challenger Shannon Grove to win the seat, but Grove said Wednesday she’s cautiously optimistic.

During an appearance on “The Ralph Bailey Show,” Grove, also a former member of the Assembly, said she was going to still run her campaign because Conway could still re-enter the race. Conway announced she was going to focus her efforts on running for the state Board of Equalization.

“I have to just keep running,” said Grove, who held the 34th Assembly seat for three terms before term limits ended her Assembly career last year.

The 16th Senate seat is currently held by Sen. Jean Fuller, who is also meeting the end of her legislative career due to term limits. Fuller’s term ends in 2018 but the race between top Republicans Conway and Grove looked like it would be an expensive and competitive battle, but Grove refuses to take Conway’s departure for granted.

“Hopefully someone won’t come in from Kern County,” Grove told host Ralph Bailey.

The district is among the largest in the state but the majority of the district rests within Kern County, but parts of the district also include portions of San Bernardino and Tulare counties.