Live Election Updates: Outcome of top Merced race hangs in balance by just one vote
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The latest round of updates from the Merced County Registrar of Voters as of 10:08 a.m. Wednesday showed a tight race between a well-recognized city leader competing against an emerging voice in Merced.
The most closely-watched race on the Merced City Council is District 6, where sheriff’s lieutenant and incumbent Delray Shelton is competing against Fue Xiong, an engineer and housing advocate.
Shelton trails behind Xiong by a mere vote, 855 to Xiong’s 856 votes. District 6 covers much of the city north of Yosemite Avenue.
It’s not the first time Shelton has been in a tight race. Back in 2018 he won his District 6 seat by only six votes. “We lived this four years ago,” Shelton said Tuesday as early results rolled in. “Here’s the thing. Nothing worth having is that easy, right? Great things do not come in beautiful packages. Everything is going to be alright.”
Shelton said regardless of the outcome, he will continue serving the community. “My work with the city is about the people. And democracy allows the people to choose. If the people choose something other than Delray Shelton, then I support that,” he said.
“I will still support this community, I will still do the work. I will be on the fringes doing what we have to do to make sure Merced moves along.”
Xiong said he was encouraged by the early results. “I knew this was going to be a tight race. It just shows how much people power we have, the community that we have,” he said.
Elections officials have until Dec. 8 to certify the election results, so the race is far from over.
Meanwhile, in District 2, which covers southwest Merced, incumbent Fernando Echevarria trails far behind retired mailman Ronnie DeAnda. He has 29.7% of the vote to DeAnda’s 69.4%.
Three candidates competed for northeast Merced’s District 4 City Council seat, held by outgoing Councilman Kevin Blake.
Legal counselor Shane Smith is far ahead in that race with 48.7% of the vote to radio journalist and businessman Casey Steed’s 33.2%, while Javier Fuentes trails at 17.5%. “I’m really heartened by this,” Smith said. “This shows the community really cares about public safety. They want the best for our police and our fire.”
As of Wednesday morning, the registrar’s office had 28,931 votes counted out of 124,665 registered voters. showing voter turnout at a little more than 23%.
Atwater
Atwater is positioned to have a new mayor, since incumbent Paul Creighton did not run.
Former Merced County Supervisor and small businessman Mike Nelson leads by a wide margin over current City Councilmember and Mayor Pro Tem John Cale, 66.7% to 32.6% respectively.
Atwater City Council District 3 is a contest between incumbent Danny Ambriz, a technology technician, and plumbing contractor James Murphy III. Murphy is ahead by a slim margin, 49.9% to Ambriz’s 48.8%
City Council District 4 is on the ballot as well, but incumbent Councilmember and small business owner Brian Raymond is running uncontested.
Livingston
Incumbent Mayor Juan Aguilar did not run for a second term, nor did multiple incumbent City Council members.
Vying for Aguilar’s place are City Councilmember and educator Maria Soto and Councilmember and teacher Jose Moran. Early returns show Moran on track to victory 70.3% of the vote, with Soto trailing at 28.5%.
Five candidates are competing for two City Council seats. So far former Livingston mayor and information technology analyst Gurpal Samra leads far ahead with 37.5%, followed by Jason Roth at 28.2% and Alma Alvarez at 15.8%.
Gustine
Incumbent Gustine Mayor Patrick Nagy is competing against Dennis Brazil, a former Gustine mayor and retired businessman, for the city’s top seat. Nagy is ahead 60.1% to Brazil’s 38%.
Three candidates are contesting for two spots on the Gustine City Council. Incumbents Richard Ford and Derek Alexander are each competing to retain their elected positions. Business owner Sherri Marsigli is also competing for a seat on the council.
Ford leads the pack by 36.6%, followed by Marsigli at 33.1%. Alexander trails at 27.8%.
Los Banos
Former law enforcement officer and business owner Paul Llanez is the only candidate for mayor listed, thus guaranteeing success at the ballot box.
Los Banos City Council District 2 is contested by appointed incumbent Refugio Llamas and Douglas Begonia Jr., an educator. Begonia leads by 58.7% to Llamas’ 39.9%.
City Council District 3 is only being pursued by current Councilmember Brett Jones.
Dos Palos
Incumbent Dos Palos City Councilmembers Deborah Orlando and Thomas Pigg, who also serves as Dos Palos Mayor Pro Tem, are each running for reelection uncontested.
This story was originally published November 8, 2022 at 9:00 PM.
