Incumbents maintain healthy leads, latest Merced County election numbers show
The Friday after Super Tuesday, votes continued to flow in for three Merced County Board of Supervisors seats up for grabs on the presidential primary ballot.
An additional 5,000 vote-by-mail ballots were tabulated between Wednesday and Friday. However, results changed little for supervisor candidates.
All 269 precincts were reporting by Wednesday.
A registrar news release said Merced County Elections reported results from 26,666 ballots on Election Day.
“We felt great about the day,” Merced County Registrar Levey said of Super Tuesday. “Our equipment performed well. Everything was very promising, very good.”
Mailed ballots were accepted until Friday, pending a postmark on or before March 3.
Levey said that although there is a 30-day window to count votes, she is hopeful they will be completed before then.
A candidate for the Merced County Board of Supervisors must get more than 50 percent of all votes to win outright. Otherwise, the two top candidates will face off in November on the general election ballot.
Levey said accurate registered voter turnout numbers will not be available until more ballots are counted, for example, vote-by-mail ballots returned to drop boxes.
However, Levey estimated turnout will be lower than the last presidential primary election at about 33-36% turnout. The June primary four years ago turned out about 42% of registered Merced County voters, she said.
Merced County Supervisor, District 1
District 1 remained the tightest race as of Monday, with incumbent Rodrigo Espinoza and drug and alcohol counselor Sonia Alshami facing off.
The earliest counts at about 8 p.m. Tuesday indicated that with 47.8% of votes, incumbent Rodrigo Espinoza trailed just behind community volunteer and drug and alcohol counselor Sonia Alshami’s 50.7%.
But the candidates flip-flopped back and forth between 9 and 10 p.m. within less than 1% from each other.
With Monday’s update, Espinoza appeared on his way to winning another term on the Board of Supervisors, getting 50.17% of the vote.
Meanwhile, Alshami claimed 48.62% of the vote.
“I want to just wait until they’re done counting until I get excited,” Alshami said Tuesday night. “But I’m very optimistic about the numbers so far.”
“I’m pretty upbeat and I know that we’re going to win tonight,” Espinoza said Tuesday, adding that he has received many supportive calls.
Alshami noted that a significant amount of residents from Livingston attended her election night party. Espinoza was mayor of Livingston before becoming a supervisor.
District 1 stretches from Livingston to east of Le Grand.
Merced County Supervisor, District 2
Early results show incumbent Lee Lor pulling ahead of other candidates in the most contested supervisor’s race. According to updated numbers Monday, she held 38.61% of votes with all precincts reporting.
Lor said she feels positive, and expected the race to likely head to the general election in November.
“Right now I’m focused on the final results,” Lor said.
If reelected, she said she will continue to focus on education and opening the Kids Discovery Station in spring.
Former Merced City Council member and high school social studies teacher Josh Pedrozo is following second behind Lor with 29.08% of votes counted so far.
“I feel really good,” Pedrozo said. “It’s looking like it’s going to go to the runoff in November,” he added.
Pedrozo also said his campaign team expected this, noting that it’s tough to win outright in a four-person race.
“I’m really excited because people have stood up and said, ‘Hey, this is what we want for Merced County District 2’,” he said.
If Pedrozo does face Lor in the November general election, he said his team will continue to work hard, run advertisements and walk precincts.
Rev. Angel Barragan, a Yosemite Church pastor and dean of students at Stoneridge Christian School, had claimed 17.85% of the vote as of Monday, while Merced Indoor Sports Center General Manager Ricky Aguilera trails in fourth place, at 13.92%.
District 2 covers most of the City of Merced and UC Merced.
Merced County Supervisor, District 4
Monday’s updated tallies maintain incumbent Lloyd Pareira is far ahead in the lead for District 4 with 70.00% of votes with all precincts reporting.
Merced College Board Trustee Mario Mendoza stood at 29.30%.
“I feel great,” Pareira said, noting that the early results indicated positively about his first term.
“I love my job, so its important to me,” he said. “It’s more than just a vote.”
Mendoza did not respond to the Sun-Star at any point during his campaign.
District 4 spans from Gustine past Snelling.
Few problems reported at polls
Merced County’s primary election proceeded relatively smoothly, Levey reported.
“We’re moving right along here,” Levey said, noting that wait times at most polling places were only a few minutes long.
The same cannot be said of 14 other counties throughout California that experienced intermittent electronic problems, making voting centers run slowly on Super Tuesday.
Nearby Fresno and Madera counties were among those reportedly experiencing connection issues with the California Secretary of State’s voter file database.
The technical difficulties began just after 9 a.m. and were solved by 11 a.m.
Merced was also listed as an affected county, but Levey said the registrar’s office received no calls about abnormal wait times and all polling places opened on time.
Some initial glitches with equipment being set up improperly occurred, but these are typical and were quickly resolved, Levey said.
While it is still too early to gauge voter turnout, Levey said polling places were busy —but not overwhelmingly so.
The major struggle for Merced County was a shortage of poll volunteers. Several dropped out just days before Super Tuesday, requiring additional last minute volunteers and training.
Although more volunteers were found, many failed to show up or called in sick come election day, Levey said.
“Those that did show up have really rallied,” she said.
Levey urged committed residents to volunteer for November’s general election. Information on how to become a poll worker is on the county’s website.
“It’s really an important and worthwhile endeavor for them to be a part of this,” Levey said.
As of Feb. 18, Merced County had 104,706 registered voters, according to the California Secretary of State, which means roughly 64.4 percent of eligible voters in the county are registered.
Of that number, 45,090 are registered Democrats, 29,361 are Republicans, 3,658 are registered American Independent, and 310 are registered Green Party. The Secretary of State data did not specifically state the number of voters registered “decline to state” or “other.”
This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 8:21 PM.
