Merced County elections show significant leads in three seats

All three of Merced County's races for elected office may be wrapped up sooner than later with top vote-getters holding significant leads and two of the races already have been conceded.

The elections for Merced County District 5 supervisor, District Attorney and superintendent of schools each showed leads of more than 53 percent in contests that require only 50 percent plus one vote. Any race that did not have a clear winner would go to a runoff between the top two in November.

Dairyman Scott Silveira held more than 61.6 percent of the vote for District 5, which covers Los Banos, Dos Palos, Gustine and Santa Nella. That's compared to the 19.7 percent for second place finisher Patricia Ramos Anderson, the director of the Santa Nella County Water District who also retired from the city of San Jose.

Silveira was cautious not to claim victory too soon.

"I am cautiously optimistic. I am highly confident that we're not going to be going to a runoff," he said Wednesday. "I'm pretty sure we're going to be good, but I want to wait to hear it from (the registrar)."

Silveira far outpaced his three competitors in campaign contributions, pulling in three times the amount of any other candidate, according to county records.

The other two candidates in District 5, business owner Richard De La Paz Jr. and law clerk Lea Hernandez Holguin, had 14 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

There are still 12,400 vote-by-mail and provisional ballots left to be processed, according to Barbara Levey, the registrar of voters. Then there are more that are bound to come in the mail that are properly postmarked.

Merced County Office of Education Superintendent Steve Tietjen held 53.2 percent of the vote in his countywide race, according to the unofficial numbers. He could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Challenger Richard Lopez, who is the superintendent for Merced River School District, conceded the victory on Facebook. With 46.6 percent of the vote, the need for a runoff in November is unlikely.

"Over 46 (percent) of our constituents saw a need for change, but democracy spoke and we live with the outcome," he wrote on Facebook. "I will stay the course to improve the educational system for all students in our county."

Incumbent Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse II also conceded his race to first-time challenger Kimberly Helms Lewis, a veteran government attorney and prosecutor. With all precincts reporting, Helms Lewis secured 65.7 percent of the vote compared with Morse's tally of 34.1 percent, according to the unofficial numbers from the Merced County Elections Office.

Los Banos' Measure X, which would extend a bond measure to pay for school facilities, appears to be on its way to passing with 68.2 percent of voters casting "Yes" votes. It needs 55 percent to pass.

Merced's Measure Y garnered 76.9 percent approval to allow the city of Merced to tax the sale of recreational marijuana by up to 10 percent. It needs 66 percent to pass.

This story was originally published June 6, 2018 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Merced County elections show significant leads in three seats."