Now that the filing period has closed for Merced County candidates to run for office, we are getting a better look at the choices before voters on Nov. 5.

Brianna Vaccari

The Merced FOCUS

There’s no shortage of competitive races to keep voters watching over the upcoming months.

For example, in the county seat of Merced, an incumbent mayor will seek a second term against a former City Council member who’s returning to the political arena after being away for four years.

On the county’s Westside, every member of the Los Banos City Council is on the ballot. Two Los Banos City Council members face a recall election. Plus, the incumbent mayor and two other incumbent council members all face challengers.

The Merced FOCUS will take a closer look at the issues around each race as Election Day approaches. In the meantime, here is a preliminary look at the key races:

Merced Mayors Race Rematch

The city’s top seat will be a rematch of sorts between a veteran prosecutor and a high school teacher.

Four years ago, Matthew Serratto triumphed in a four-candidate race for the mayor’s seat in Nov. 2020 after then-Mayor Mike Murphy termed out.

One of those candidates in the 2020 race is returning this year, with hopes of unseating Serratto. Anthony Martinez served as a member of the City Council from 2016 until 2020 representing District 1.

In the last Merced mayor’s race, Martinez placed third out of four candidates with 14.48% of the vote. Serratto prevailed with 52.36% of the vote over Martinez, Michael Belluomini (19.46%) and Monica Kay Villa (13.43%).

This time, the race is one-on-one between Serratto, who is a prosecutor at the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office and Martinez, an English teacher at El Capitan High.

Former Councilmember Fernando Echevarria initially filed paperwork to challenge Serratto as well, but he did not qualify for the ballot.

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Perez Not Seeking Reelection, Boyle Seeks Another Term

A certainty for the city of Merced’s election is there will be two new faces on the council.

Bertha Perez, who represents downtown’s District 3, is not seeking reelection after serving a single term on the council, according to the Registrar of Voters.

Perez faced criticism during her time on the council after members of the community filed complaints about alleged inappropriate statements and threats she made.

With Perez stepping away from District 3, three candidates will compete to fill the seat. They include retired sheriff’s sergeant and planning commissioner Mike Harris, Merced SPCA president Cynthia Kelley and Sair Lara Rodriguez, an educator and business owner.

District 1, which includes southeast Merced, will have new representation as Councilmember Jesse Ornela is not seeking reelection. Two candidates will compete for that open seat: planning commissioner Walter Smith and local civil attorney Darin DuPont.

Incumbent District 5 Councilmember Sarah Boyle faces two challengers for her seat in November. Felipe Rojas-Flores, a public interest attorney, and Alex Carrillo, a communications and policy director, are both running against her.

A Historic Election for Los Banos

Every elected office for the Los Banos City Council will be on the ballot in some capacity – which is a first for that city.

Typically, terms for the council districts are staggered so that two of the four seats are up for election on even-numbered years.

This year, two incumbents – District 1 Councilmember Ken Lambert and District 4 Councilmember Deborah Lewis – are on the ballot in accordance with the regular schedule. Travis “TJ” Loebig, who operates a pool service, is challenging Lewis. A candidate named Tommy Leyva recently filed to run against Lambert in council District 1.

Additionally, District 2 Councilmember Douglas Begonia and District 3 Councilmember Brett Jones are facing recall elections. If recalled, the new council would decide how to replace them.

Los Banos Mayor Paul Llanez also is up for reelection. He’s facing two challengers: a former mayor and a former city councilmember.

Former six-term mayor Michael Amabile is running against Llanez.

So is Refugio Llamas, who previously served as a councilmember. A Merced County judge recently extended a restraining order against Llamas. It was filed by Jones, the sitting District 3 councilmember, who accused Llamas of grabbing his elbow and making threats after a council meeting. Llamas denied the accusations, saying they are politically motivated.

Leaders of Los Banos have been the subject of numerous articles ever since the council last year voted to rehire City Manager Josh Pinheiro, who had been fired.

The council then voted to pay Pinheiro $1.8 million to prevent him from filing a lawsuit over his termination.

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Livingston: Espinosa Running in Two Races

Another unusual tidbit from this election’s candidate list is that outgoing Merced County Supervisor Rodrigo Espinosa appears to be running for two races: Livingston City Council and Merced County Board of Education.

Merced County Registrar of Voters Melvin Levey said those two offices aren’t considered “compatible” under California law, so if Espinosa wins both seats, he will be forced to resign from one.

Espinosa lost his bid for re-election for the District 1 seat on the Merced County Board of Supervisors during the March primary. Former sheriff’s deputy Jim Pacheco won that race, and will be sworn in at the beginning of next year.

Espinosa previously served on the Livingston City Council and as mayor before he was elected as a county supervisor.

Current Livingston Mayor Jose Moran faces two challengers: current City Councilmember Maria Soto and Jason Roth, who describes himself as a service manager.

Six candidates are vying for two Livingston City Council seats. The two candidates to receive the most votes will win. The candidates are: Espinosa; planning commissioner and football coach Japjeet Singh Uppal; planning commissioner Mohinder Kanda; retired farmer Gurmai Bagri; business owner Arturo Sicairos; and planning commissioner Renee Waite Mendonca.

Key Races in Atwater and Gustine

Atwater City Council seats are up for election in District 1 and District 2. District 1 incumbent John Cale faces challenger Michael Anthony Gomez, a realtor. Vying for the District 2 seat are retired Merced County Chief Probation Officer Kalisa Rochester and Adrian Lopez-Juarez, a field worker.

Teacher Katy Miller Reed is running unopposed for Dos Palos mayor. Dos Palos Councilmembers Armando Bravo and Marcus Porter did not draw any challengers.

In Gustine, there are three candidates for two City Council seats: business owner Blake Mitchell Giles, community member Laura Lopez and Mark Melville, a law enforcement retiree.

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School Board Races

On the Merced City Schools Board of Education, two candidates filed to run for the Area 2 seat: Audrea Tuhn and Tsia Xiong, who both describe themselves as parents.

The seat is up for grabs since current Trustee Jessee Espinosa decided not to seek reelection.

Merced City’s Area 4 Trustee Birdi Olivarez-Kidwell is seeking another term and drew a challenger for her seat. Annie Delgado, a high school teacher for Merced Union High School District, is also running for Area 4. Delgado made headlines in 2019 when she sued the school district and a coach for sexual harassment.

The Area 3 and Area 4 seats on the Merced County Board of Education also are up for election, and both incumbents have challengers.

Area 3 Trustee Frank A. Fagundes will face Jose M. Naranjo, a bookkeeper.

Espinosa, the outgoing county supervisor, is challenging the Area 4 incumbent, Fred Honoré, along with business owner Fred Quintero and Robert S. Wallis, who is retired from the U.S. Army.

The governing boards for Delhi Unified, Dos Palos-Oro Loma Joint Unified, Gustine Unified, Hilmar Unified, Los Banos Unified, Le Grand Union High School, Merced Union High School and Planada Elementary School districts also all have seats up for election.

For a complete list of candidates, click here. For more information about the Nov. 5 election, visit www.countyofmerced.com/4071/November-5-2024-General-Election.

About the Author

Brianna Vaccari is the accountability and government watchdog reporter for the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative.