Merced City Council candidate leads race by 119 votes, as District 1 count grinds on
With the votes still being counted one week after the election, Merced City Council District 1 candidate Darin Dupont has found ways to distract himself so he’s not fixated on the results.
One distraction was a welcomed addition to the family as he and his wife Bianca welcomed the birth of their first child, daughter Leilani on Tuesday.
“I probably won’t even pay attention to the results until they come out Thursday afternoon,” Dupont said.
Dupont says he’s been encouraged after watching his lead increase with each election result update.
Dupont, a local civic attorney, leads planning commissioner Walter Smith in the race for the District 1 seat. Dupont has accumulated 998 votes or 52.97% to Smith’s 879 votes or 46.66% with 1,884 votes counted as of early Thursday, Nov. 14.
Dupont has seen his lead grow from 39 to 50 to 76 to as many as 120 votes with each election results update.
The Merced Registrar of Voters Office says the next updated results are scheduled to be released on Thursday at 5 p.m.
“It’s a good sign going into Thursday with just a couple 100 left of votes left to count, at least in the district,” Dupont said. “Anything is possible, but it’s a good trend.”
The other city council races in District 3 and 5 look to be decided.
Mike Harris, a retired sheriff’s sergeant and planning commissioner, leads a three-way race in District 3 against Cynthia Kelly, the Merced SPCA president and former City of Merced employee, and Sair Lara Rodriguez, who has worked in education for 16 years.
Harris has received 1,069 votes or 46.99%. Lara Rodriguez is second with 807 votes or 35.47% and Kelly has received 384 votes or 16.88%.
There have been 2,275 total votes in District 3, which covers Northwest Merced..
In District 5, incumbent Sarah Boyle is out to a big lead with 1,124 votes or 50.45%. Challenger Alex Carrillo is second with 760 votes or 34.11%. Felipe Rojas-Flores is third with 335 votes or 15.04% despite dropping out of the race in October.
Boyle works as a social media coordinator at UC Merced, Carrillo also works at UC Merced as a communications and policy director.
There have been 2,28 total votes in District 5, which covers Northeast Merced.
In the race for Merced mayor, incumbent Matthew Serratto is well ahead over challenger Anthony Levi Martinez in his re-election bid.
Serratto has received 9.546 votes or 65.15% of the 14,653 total votes. Martinez has totaled 5,005 votes or 34.16%.
Serratto, 44, 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.
Dupont says there isn’t much the candidates can do now but wait.
“I can’t change what is is going on,” Dupont said. “You kind of just have to wait and see the results. “
This story was originally published November 12, 2024 at 5:36 PM.
