Merced Mayor Matthew Serratto has big lead over Anthony Martinez, election results show
Merced Mayor Matthew Serratto’s lead held steady in his bid for a second term after a second set of election results were posted on Tuesday night.
Serratto continued to lead challenger Anthony Levi Martinez in his reelection bid with 6,774 votes, which accounts for 64.85% of the 10,446 total votes counted. Martinez has 3,611 votes or 34.57%.
“The early results are really encouraging for us,” Serratto, 44, said. “I feel it’s a pretty strong indicator of how things are going to go.”
Serratto, who was first elected to the council in 2016, is chief deputy district attorney in Stanislaus County. It is a position he previously held in Merced County.
Martínez, 38, who served on the Merced City Council from 2016-20, is an English teacher at El Capitan High School.
Both were on the ballot in 2020 when former Mayor Mike Murphy termed out. Serrato won, with 52% of the vote. Martinez finished third of four candidates, with 14% of the votes.
Serrato said if he gets a second term from voters: “it’s an affirmation of all the hard work we’ve done the past four years. I’ve done nothing but work as hard as I can every single day for this city.”
Martínez said he got on the right track in his childhood to be able to become an educator and later become a councilmember. “I believe I’ve figured out how we can move Merced in a new direction, a better direction,” he said.
The mayor is paid $6,000 a year. The city has a $442.5 million budget for 2024-25.
This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 8:26 PM.
