Merced Mayor Matthew Serratto receives a congratulatory hug from Delray Shelton, a Sheriff’s Lieutenant and former City Council member, on Election Night at the Italo American Lodge.
District 1 City Council candidate Darin DuPont contemplates the early results released on Tuesday night.
Walter Smith speaks with residents at the Italo American Lodge on Tuesday evening as ballots are counted.
District 3 candidate Sair Lara Rodriguez at home with his family on Election Night.
District 3 candidate Mike Harris looks over early election night results along with former Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin and members of the local hotel association.
Merced City Councilwoman Sarah Boyle, who represents District 5, celebrates with a crowd of supporters after early elections results on Tuesday night.
State Senator Anna Caballero visits with District 5 candidate Alex Carrillo during his watch party at the Table 59 restaurant on Tuesday night.
Merced mayoral candidate Anthony Martinez, second from left, spends Election Night with supporters at Los Panchos restaurant
Merced City Council District 3 hopeful Cynthia Kelly, third from left, sits alongside supporters as the results roll in on election night inside of Taste of Little India.
By JOHN MILLER & JONATHAN WHITAKER
Election Night in Merced was marked by long, last-minute lines at voting centers, oh-so-close vote margins in some races, and overall excitement in the air.
Not everyone stayed home with their eyes glued to the TV, and non-stop news coverage.
At the Italo American Lodge downtown, the place was packed for its monthly social night, filled with food and drink, raffle prizes, and vibrant conversations.
The lodge was also where Mayor Matthew Serratto decided to have his Election Night watch party, and he was quickly rewarded with a very favorable report shortly after 8 p.m. By the end of the night, Serratto was well in the lead with 64.85 percent of the vote, or 6,774 votes, compared to his challenger, Anthony Martinez, who had 34.57 percent, or 3,611 votes.
Mayor Serratto said he was looking forward to a second term in office, and extending his eight-year run on the City Council with new faces on the leadership dais.
“I think we are going to have a strong council,” Serratto told the Times. “I think all the candidates who are running are impressive. No matter who wins, no matter the exact composition, we are going to have a good council.”
Regarding his initial lead in the race and the possibility of reelection, the mayor said: “A big win is always somewhat of a mandate. It shows people recognize the hard work you are doing, and appreciate your leadership and judgement, but at the same time you still have to stay focused on the Council, and continue to identify specific, achievable goals and priorities.
“I think the quality of our roads is really rising to the top, along with public safety, homelessness, economic development — those continue to be the top issues.
“We have been treading water on roads. They are a priority and we really need to move the needle in a good direction. We have done a lot, we have a whole pavement management study, we have slowly added to our streets department and given them the capacity to do asphalt overlays in-house or we have added staffing in the last budget. We have a city council sub-committee that we have helped organize to work with our public works department. Over the next couple of months we are going to go visit other cities that are really good standouts with how they deal with roads — everyone really struggles with it because it’s hard — but we have a lot of really old roads that are expensive to maintain and everybody fights to work on.
“I think giving our Public Works Department more bodies is key, and we need equipment to do the slurry-seals, and the grind and overlays. More equipment so we can do these things in-house, and then finding the money to do it. It’s expensive. I mean we spend $6 or $7 million or so on roads a year, and it probably needs to double or triple that.”
Looking at the big picture for Merced, the mayor said the community has made progress on homelessness, “but we have a ways to go,” and leaders have to solve questions such as: “How are we going to manage growth around the UC Merced campus?” and “How are we going to manage High Speed Rail development in the downtown area?”
“We have a lot of pressing issues on our plate,” Serratto added, “including economic development and jobs. The countywide unemployment rate is at 9.1 percent right now, which is a couple percentage points below our roughly 12.8 percent average, but still if we could get that down to the 5 or 6 range it would be a big deal. We could use a home run on jobs.”
Across town at Los Panchos restaurant, mayoral candidate Martinez was surrounded by supporters and feeling “pretty good” with Tuesday’s results and the outlook that many votes have yet to be counted.
“I would say issues with homelessness, issues with vandalism, issues with crime, issues with boarded-up buildings, issues with those buildings catching fire, issues with the city basically not being on top of certain things when it comes to what’s going on in certain neighborhoods, and when it comes to certain buildings and properties, and things like that,” Martinez said when asked about challenges facing the city. “I guess the big response from that is that it’s really affecting the community, with all these different things that are happening, and it is just bringing bad morale in general and that is something I would like to work on. Let’s take care of these properties, let’s take care of these people, and let’s make sure we start enforcing the laws we have on our books.”
Martinez is a teacher at El Capitan High School, and a former member of the Merced City Council.
DuPont vs. Smith
The race for the open District 1 seat — representing parts of south and southeast Merced — was highlighted by a margin of only 76 votes between two candidates, according to election updates on Wednesday morning. Darin DuPont was ahead with 52.72 percent of the vote, or 698 votes, compared to Walter Smith’s 46.98 percent, or 622 votes.
“I’m feeling good so far, but we have a long way to go here,” DuPont told the Times during his watch party at the Marriott hotel. “Just looking at the numbers, I know there’s plenty of votes still left, so I’m feeling comfortable, but we’re just waiting on more results to come in.”
DuPont, a lawyer in Merced, echoed the mayor’s concern about road maintenance when asked what he would focus in on if he managed to pull out a win in the race.
“In all of District 1, we have some aging infrastructure and we need to try to update that,” DuPont said. “There’s a lot of federal grant monies and state grant monies that we can continue to leverage for sidewalks in different neighborhoods. I know especially next to schools it is important to make sure our sidewalks are good for our students.”
Back at the Italo American Lodge, DuPont’s opponent, Walter Smith, was in the crowd and talking about his candidacy.
“I think Merced is like an egg shell without a yolk — and we have to fix that,” Smith told the Times. “I think teamwork is going to make the dream work, and we have to all come together throughout the city’s six districts. So my plan is to make sure we get stuff done. I don’t have all the solutions to all the problems — but we have to get something done. … There aren’t any jobs in Merced, and we have to do something about that. We have to bring something to the town — and I don’t know what the solution is — but I want the community to be a part of the process. Again, it’s not about me, it’s about we, and the people of Merced. … We need the income, and there are a lot of things that can be done, but I would like to get a board of people from the community, from different districts, to sit down and talk about what needs to be done in the community.”
Smith serves on two city commissions, Planning and Parks and Recreation, along with being a youth sports coach.
Three-way Dist. 3 race
In the race for the District 3 seat on the Merced City Council — representing the downtown and older central neighborhoods — Mike Harris was out in front by Wednesday morning with 48.08 percent of the vote, or 800 votes; compared to Sair Lara Rodriguez with 34.56 percent, or 575 votes; and Cynthia Kelly with 16.53 percent or 275 votes. Harris, a city planning commissioner, was at the Elks Lodge with friends on Election Night, feeling confident about the way things were going.
“We are in good shape, but it’s not over until it’s over,” he told the Times. “I believe we ran a positive campaign, and I even made friends with one of the candidates, Cynthia Kelly, because we both share a love for animals. We told each other we would stay in contact no matter what happened in the election. … If elected, I look forward to working with the other council members and moving Merced forward. I think we will get a lot done.”
At his home near Applegate Park, candidate Lara Rodriguez remained hopeful surrounded by friends and family members. He reminded the Times on Election Night that there are a lot of votes left to be counted. The downtown advocate who helps provide educational services to the local school district said he led a grassroots campaign that was focused on knocking on doors in the district.
“I’m always going to be an advocate for this district,” he said. “This is my home. This is where my family lives.”
Candidate Cynthia Kelly celebrated Election Night with friends and supporters at the Taste of Little India restaurant in Downtown Merced.
On Wednesday morning Kelly sent the following statement to the Times: “I am proud of my campaign and was honored to have met over 4,000 amazing residents of District 3. I learned that 95 percent of us, regardless of political affiliation, all want the same things for Merced: a better quality of life, safer neighborhoods, more dining and entertainment options, affordable home ownership and a decrease in the cost of living.”
Boyle with strong lead
Incumbent Councilwoman Sarah Boyle was enjoying a nice lead on Election Night and into Wednesday morning as she seeks reelection to the District 5 seat on the Merced City Council. Boyle had 51.07 percent of the vote, or 833 votes, compared to challenger Alex Carrillo with 33.17 percent or 541 votes.
Boyle, wearing a “Merced” pullover shirt, was surrounded by enthusiastic supporters during a watch party at her parents home along Bear Creek.
“I worked really hard the last few months to get re-elected,” she told the Times. “I’m excited to see the hard work paid off.”
Boyle said this year’s campaign was a lot different than her first one that occurred during the 2020 pandemic, when face-to-face interaction with residents was limited.
“This time around I actually got to talk to more people, hear their stories, and get to know them, and also build connections. Some of these people have been following me on social media and it’s been great to actually meet them in person at some of the events we have had.”
If Boyle’s lead holds, it’s almost certain that she will be the only woman on the City Council going forward into 2025. That outcome wasn’t lost on the candidate Tuesday night.
“I think it’s important to have a woman’s voice on the Council when making those important decisions for the city. We bring a different perspective to the table.”
She added, “Everyone has been talking about economic development. I feel over the last six months that’s been my biggest push. We are at this point where if we don’t start thinking outside the box, and be creative about how we are going to get more jobs, we are going to end up getting stuck in a predicament. How are we going to make Merced marketable to bring business here? That’s the question.”
On the other side of town, at the Table 59 restaurant, challenger Alex Carrillo had an equally enthusiastic crowd of supporters, including a surprise visit from State Senator Anna Caballero. The senator remains friends with Carrillo long after he served as one of her campaign aides as a teenager. The candidate also enjoyed support from Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria, and a large team of volunteers.
“My biggest takeaway is the voices and stories of my neighbors,” Carrillo told the Times. “This inspires me to go on far past this election. However the results land, I’m still going to live in Merced. I’m still going to love Merced. And I’m still going to advocate for my community.”
He added, “We are going to continue to uplift the voices that are being neglected.”
Election Highlights As Of Wednesday
- Measure R — County PublicSafety Tax Measure: 58.31% YES votes. Needs two thirds, or about 66% voter approval to pass.
- Measure O — MCSD School Facilities Bond: 63.32% YES votes.
- Tsia Xiong leads MCSD Board Area 2 with 55.48% of vote.
- Annie Delgado leads MCSD Board Area 4 with 64.12% of vote.
- Sam Spangler leads MUHSD Board Area 3 with 50.56% of vote.
- Amalee Jayasinghe leads MUHSD Board Area 4 with 55.07% of vote.
- Kurt Kollmann leads MUHSD Board Area 5 with 69.03% of vote.
- Frank Fagundes leads MCOE Board Area 3 race with 55.83% of vote.
- Robert Wallis leads MCOE Board Area 4 race with 32.87% of vote.