Atwater’s McDaniel wins District 3 race for Merced County supervisor

Atwater businessman Daron McDaniel won a spot on the Merced County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night, defeating Merced City Councilman Tony Dossetti in the District 3 race.

With 30 out of 31 precincts reporting, McDaniel led the race with 55 percent of the votes over Dossetti’s 44 percent.

“I worked very hard on this. I am humbled and honored that the folks of District 3 have elected me to represent them,” McDaniel said Tuesday night. “We just put a lot of grease into it. We got out there, knocked on doors and talked to people, and made it happen.

“Face to face contact, I think that’s what folks want,” he added as to why he believes he won the votes of District 3 residents.

“Now the real work begins,” McDaniel said. “I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and jumping right into it.”

Dossetti said he wanted to thank those who got out to the polls and voted for him. “As far as this election goes, the public has made their decision,” Dossetti said. “Tomorrow morning, the sun comes up and we pick up our lives, and we do what we do.”

District 3 covers Atwater, north Merced, Franklin-Beachwood and McSwain.

Before the results were in Tuesday, both candidates expressed satisfaction with the clean campaign experience.

For McDaniel, election night was a simple matter of patiently waiting. “We’ve done everything we could do, now we just wait,” he said early Tuesday.

Dossetti and McDaniel ran on similar ideas. Job creation, public safety and economic development were the top three priorities for both candidates. But even though Dossetti and McDaniel had few opposing views, both offered District 3 voters completely different backgrounds and experiences.

McDaniel, an Illinois native who has lived in Merced County most of his life, relied heavily on his experience as a private businessman and congressional aide to Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock. Having worked with water districts throughout the Central Valley, McDaniel made use of that knowledge when speaking about groundwater and surface water issues.

In a previous interview with the Sun-Star, McDaniel said his reason for running was to implement positive changes, such as ones he saw taking place in neighboring counties.

McDaniel has been a strong opponent of the Board of Supervisors’ discretionary funds. He said he does not support the $40,000 managed by each supervisor for district improvements. McDaniel said he would put the discretionary money into deteriorating county buildings and into tackling county issues.

The newly elected District 3 supervisor is also a supporter of privatizing Castle Commerce Center to help attract larger companies for business growth. McDaniel said he would advocate for bringing in a master developer who would get paid for revitalization efforts and accomplishments at Castle. He said master developers have businesses that follow them and have experience working on similar projects.

Meanwhile, Dossetti, a Merced native and city councilman, leaned on his 30 years of experience as a former police chief when addressing public safety. Dossetti also emphasized his extensive educational background.

Being the only board member with law enforcement experience would come in handy when working with the Sheriff’s Department to help combat crime, Dossetti told the Sun-Star during his campaign run. He felt his experience as a city council member would also be of great benefit on the county level.

During the June primary, Dossetti finished first and McDaniel finished second, displacing incumbent Supervisor Linn Davis.

McDaniel will begin his four-year term Jan. 1.

This story was originally published November 4, 2014 at 11:52 PM with the headline "Atwater’s McDaniel wins District 3 race for Merced County supervisor."