With vote-by-mail ballots ready to be sent out to Merced County voters starting Monday, May 4, the upcoming June 2 primary election is around the corner.
One of the key races on the ballot is Assembly District 27, which includes most of Merced County, along with parts of Madera and Fresno counties.
This week The Merced FOCUS held a debate with two of the three candidates who are competing in the race: former Merced Mayor Mike Murphy and Japjeet Singh Uppal, who sits on the Livingston City Council.
Murphy is the Republican candidate in the race and Uppal is a Democrat.
Also running for the seat is Brian Pacheco, a Democrat who sits on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. The Merced FOCUS invited Pacheco to participate in the debate. His campaign declined.
The Assembly 27th District seat is open because the incumbent, Esmeralda Soria, is running for state Senate District 14.
The Assembly 27th District is among the most-closely watched races in California because neither Democrats nor Republicans have a clear majority of the electorate (42% to 28% respectively), which means there’s a large number of decline-to-state or independent voters who could impact the outcome.
The candidates were posed questions by Victor A. Patton, managing editor of the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative, Merced FOCUS Editor Brianna Vaccari and Garth Stapley, accountability reporter for The Modesto Focus.
A transcript of the debate is below, edited for length and clarity.
Also, those who would like to see Murphy and Uppal debate in person will have a chance on Friday, May 8 at UC Merced. Hosted by Middle Ground, the debate is scheduled for 6 p.m. in room 120 of the Arts and Computational Sciences Building. Scan the QR code at the bottom of this page to RSVP.
The Merced FOCUS – Let’s get started with opening statements.
Japjeet Singh Uppal – I’d like to thank Mike for participating in tonight’s debate. It’s nice to know that at least one other candidate in this race has enough respect for the voters to present their platform because it’s clear that the Democratic establishment’s hand-picked candidate didn’t care enough to show up tonight.
I’m from Livingston, I’m a UC Merced alum, and I got my masters from the University of Redlands. The day before that, I got sworn in to the Livingston City Council. I’m committed to fighting a corrupt political machine that steals from working people to serve the wealthy and the well-connected.
We are fighting to break this political machine, to root out sell-out politicians and to reform systems in our state so that the people of this district, the residents of the Valley and our neighbors across California can comfortably call our state home.
This campaign is about people, not profit. It’s about taking money out of politics, not selling out to billionaires and private corporations. It’s about guaranteeing health care and housing as human rights, not assets that only a select few can afford. It’s about breaking monopolies like PG&E and Amazon, not taking their money to bankroll my campaign. It’s about fighting the most corrupt administration president that this country’s ever seen.
Mike Murphy – I’m running for State Assembly because for too long, the Central Valley has been treated like a second-class citizen by Sacramento. I served in local government for nine years, including two terms as the mayor of Merced.
I’m a husband of 25 years, father of four and a business attorney. My public career has been defined by achieving results. I led a team that prioritized public safety, revitalizing downtown, balanced budgets, clean water, upgraded parks, enhanced youth opportunities, UC Merced expansion and greater transparency through regular town hall meetings and states of the city (addresses). I’m a product of this Assembly district, having grown up attending local public schools and then as an adult, repaving roads that I grew up riding my bike on as a kid.
Assembly District 27 is at a breaking point. We have the highest gas prices in the country, dismal educational outcomes, and a state government that isn’t interested in fixing real problems. I know how to fight but more importantly, I know how to work. I’m running as an independent-minded Republican because I believe in fiscal responsibility, safe neighborhoods and a quality education for every child, regardless of zip code. I’m not going to Sacramento to engage in national culture wars. I’m going there to be a workhorse for the Valley.
The FOCUS – Despite years of planning for a downtown station, the High Speed Rail Authority is now suggesting an alternative site roughly four miles southeast of downtown. Where do you stand?
Murphy – I’m very familiar with the High Speed Rail Authority and the various twists and turns that have taken place. The project being sold to the public and the region is not what was passed in 2008. The price has quadrupled. It should have been built six years ago, according to what was promised in the plan.
Now to make it worse, the High Speed Rail Authority has broken a promise that they made to locate the station in downtown Merced. While I was mayor, the High Speed Rail Authority said that the system could not be successful in a location outside of downtown. Now they’ve changed that and to make matters worse they have said they’re going to take the incremental tax revenue that comes from any development, so the city and the region won’t even reap those rewards. I favor utilizing the assets that are there (for Amtrak investments that actually work for us) rather than making them a new Stonehenge.
Uppal – I was on the High Speed Rail Authority’s meeting this morning. We had elected officials from Merced and community members commenting on the draft business plan.
We have to separate high speed rail as a concept, and how it’s been managed. This project has absolutely been a boondoggle because of management at the state level.
I’m a huge supporter of high speed rail as a project of mass public transit. Countries that have done this around the world have been very successful. It’s a huge benefit to their residents, and I want the people in our state and district to enjoy those same benefits in Merced.
So I’m a huge advocate for the construction of high speed rail in a downtown station versus southeast Merced. There’s a lot of unanswered questions on long-term costs. (But) Merced was promised a downtown station. That’s what the current state legislation requires the station to go. But going there would take away a ton of tax revenue. You have to relocate the Senior Center, the Boys and Girls Club. There’s costs associated with going to the southeast. We have to evaluate those before making a decision.
The FOCUS – Mr. Murphy, you are a Republican running in a district where Democrats make up 42% of the electorate compared to 28% Republicans. Why should Democrats or independents vote for you?
Murphy – Neither party has a clear majority and this is an area of persuadable voters who really just want leadership and representation, to have an advocate in Sacramento who understands the issues, who’s been in the trenches with them, shoulder to shoulder.
That’s who I am. I am passionate about this region. We can make California marginally better and make our region much better with the proper representation. And so I intend to be that person. I’ve got a lot of Democrats that support me as well as Republicans. They know my track record.
The FOCUS – Mr. Uppal, you were elected to the Livingston City Council in November of 2024. Does time in office matter? Because your opponent has a lot more experience.
Uppal – In the democracy we live in, anybody can run for office without having served at a prior position at any level of government. If we truly believe in that kind of democracy, time in office does not matter. Integrity is a lot more important.
The way that I not only reject contributions from big corporations and shady special interests, but I also call out all corrupt interests, regardless of party or level of government, shows a lot about my integrity and the way we intend to lead in Sacramento.
So while I have only served for a year and a half, what I lack in experience I make up for in integrity and I have every intention of fighting on behalf of the residents of our district in Sacramento.
The FOCUS – What can you do to ensure our region is affordable for the average person in the 27th Assembly District?
Uppal – So there’s no conversation that should be had about affordability without calling out the folks that are getting rich while none of us can afford to live in any part of this state, including this district.
I’m calling out the corporations on Wall Street that are buying up housing all over the state, private equity investors, corporate investors that are buying up housing and out pricing all of us. You also have a ton of consolidation in the building market, where it’s impossible for local builders or local lenders to participate in the process.
Not only do we have to decentralize that piece of the economy to stimulate building in the area, ban the corporate investors from the housing market, but we also need to tie wages to productivity.
Back in the 50s and the 60s, wages and productivity used to trend up together, but now we’re more productive than ever and paid less than ever. Everybody screams about raising wages and rising costs. Right now we have flat wages and rising costs, so we have to raise wages to tie levels of worker productivity to make sure that we can actually afford to live in our region and in our state.
Murphy – So I’m very familiar with housing policy, having dealt with it for a number of years, and I can tell you that there are a number of drivers, but the one that the Legislature needs to be focused on is more supply, and having having more housing supply that’s single family, multi family, and all the different variations of housing supply so people can can move into the right size home, can free up housing for younger families as well.
It’s disturbing that the average age of the first time homebuyer is now near 40 years old, and that it really shouldn’t be that way. We can make things more affordable by building again.
A lot of what happens at the local level with builders takes place in the context of state regulations that make things expensive. In particular, the California Environmental Quality Act known as CEQA, there are special exemptions that are made for special projects, for people that have special favor in the Legislature.
But if you’re an NBA basketball team, for example, you get a secret exemption. But if you’re just trying to build a single family home in Atwater or Firebaugh or Madera, you don’t get the same treatment, and that should change.
The FOCUS – ICE (immigration enforcement) agents recently shot a man in Patterson. State law currently restricts how local and state law enforcement works with federal immigration officials. In Assembly District 27 there are a wide range of viewpoints on immigration, particularly since the ag industry is heavily dependent on immigrant labor. What should be the state Legislature’s role?
Murphy – Our system should be both orderly and compassionate, and recognize that our economy, as you stated, in large part, is built on agriculture, and that’s not just farmers, but also farm workers.
And having a system that works for everyone is critical to our success as a region. So ICE law enforcement is a federal action that’s occurring. I know there’s been attempts at the state level to curtail some of that, most recently with legislation that was struck down just last week by a federal court of appeals with respect to masks (worn) by federal agents.
So you know, we need to be focused at the local level, local enforcement of local issues and not get caught up with the folks who are not felons, who are here trying to make a living and supporting our farms. And that’s where our focus should be.
Uppal – People are terrified right now. You know, when we knock on doors on any part of this district, it’s one of the first questions we get. What are you going to do about the ICE officers that are terrorizing our communities?
I mean shooting American citizens on the streets, kidnapping working people, children from their families to pretend that this is about violent criminals. It is beyond the stupid at this point, given the actions of this administration, we can’t control the actions of the ICE agents. We can make their lives difficult.
One specific policy solution that I have for this is to ban their surveillance technology, the authoritarian surveillance technology that the Department of Homeland Security, through Border Patrol and ICE, is deploying to spy on our people, using our data, through our phones, through Wi Fi networks, to track people down and hunt them down whether or not they’ve committed crimes, put them on Terror Watch List.
This is actively happening at the federal level, and here in the state of California, we need to ban all types of surveillance technologies that are used to unnecessarily spy on our people (and) to track down immigrant communities.
The FOCUS – Gov. Newsom recently threatened to sue several Valley cities and counties saying they’re out of compliance with state housing law, including unincorporated areas of Merced County and Atwater. A lawsuit from the state could jeopardize key state funding for local jurisdictions. How would you defend these governments?
Uppal – Gov. Newsom needs to look himself in the mirror and provide answers on where the $24 billion that they allocated towards homelessness went.
There’s an audit that came out. The state effectively lost those funds. They did not track where they went or the outcomes that came out of them. So if the governor is going to talk about housing, he should start there first.
Now, as it relates to this specific lawsuit, I have worked in the city of Livingston, where things have not been done the way that they need to be done. So I can sympathize with local jurisdictions not moving as fast as they need to.
But the reality is, that the current market that we live in is not set for building the housing that we need. I mean the issues with CEQA, the consolidation and the housing market, the corporate investors that make it difficult to get anything done. The state needs to address those issues at a high level to make it easier for local jurisdictions to get their jobs done. So while we also need to evaluate ourselves, I think the governor needs to look himself in the mirror and take care of his business to make it easier for us to do our business.
Murphy – Well, this is Sacramento overreach, and the irony is pretty rich, because they’re getting after these cities suing them in many cases because they’re not providing enough housing opportunities, when at the same time, so much of what has come out of Sacramento has made it harder to build housing.
It’d be better. It’d be easier to understand their position if they were, in fact, creating a condition where housing is easier to be built. So I’m very sympathetic with the cities, and I also believe in local control.
Having been a mayor, I know that the best decisions with respect to neighborhoods are made by people who come from those very neighborhoods and not by the Legislature in Sacramento. So I’m supportive of housing and more housing supplies I’ve mentioned, but the irony is pretty rich when, when the administration starts suing the cities.
The FOCUS – One of the biggest topics regarding Valley water is the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which aims to have local entities bring aquifers into balance by 2040. As we all know, however, there’s oftentimes a big gap between what Sacramento wants – and the realities facing Valley farmers and irrigation districts. If elected, what will you do to protect the Valley’s water resources?
Murphy – With respect to SGMA, it’s a, it’s a slow motion catastrophe that’s that’s happening in our Valley, where farmers are being asked to reduce the amount of groundwater that they use, while at the same time, investments aren’t being made, both with respect to getting them onto more surface water and doing more recharge projects.
So we do want to preserve and maintain the water in our aquifers, underneath our feet. And it’s not just farmers, it’s municipalities as well. Most of the cities in this region use groundwater for municipal use as well, but we have to make investments in the other areas.
So we passed a water bond as a state. Some of it had to do with conservation that was funded, but a lot of it had to do with supply, creating more supply, that includes above ground and below ground recharge. And to date, that hasn’t been funded. We’ve got $3.8 billion in the water bond that we need to unlock so that we can have more water.
Uppal – I would actually largely agree with Mr. Murphy’s sentiment on this topic. (I have) spoken to several farmers over the last couple months in this district, many of them have concerns with the implementation of SGMA, the lack of transparency from the state, and again, the lack of investment.
And this isn’t something that we just see in farming. We see this across local government when the state of California expects people to get things done, but puts no money towards getting those projects done, unfunded mandates, nor do they streamline those processes as it relates to that water bond, some of that language locks the supply for public projects that aren’t even for the use of farmers or the use of people that live here.
I mean, we’re prioritizing salmon over humans, over farmers and over our workforce. And so I think the state needs to have a reality check again before imposing these types of requirements to make sure that they’re actually giving our farmers and everybody else in our region what they need to get to a sustainable spot.
The FOCUS – We’ve seen some efforts to address the homeless problems in the Valley. Project Homekey funds have been used to find supportive housing for homeless veterans, and just a few years ago a new navigation center opened in Merced County. Plus, we’re seeing creative alternatives like the tiny home project being built in Los Banos.
Despite those advances, we still have a massive population of unhoused people in the Valley.
It’s going to take bold ideas to solve the Valley’s homelessness problem. What are your bold ideas?
Uppal – Before we talk about progress in the homelessness issue, we need to talk about accountability. This is an administration (that) has lost $24 billion allocated for homelessness. And I get the impression that we can’t just call JG Wentworth at 877-CASH-NOW and say, “we want our money and we want it now.”
You need legislation that’s going to get accountability from the governor when they allocate these funds. And we need to take the housing first approach that Finland has taken in Europe to essentially eradicate homelessness.
We need to treat housing as a human right. Right now you have prisoners, people that have murdered or raped that get guaranteed housing, but we have people that have made mistakes or fallen into drugs that we allow to sleep on the streets. So we need to build housing for these folks. We need to pair that with the social services, the behavioral health services that they need, and we can’t allow people to be on the street. Invest in housing units. Get these people indoors, get them the services that they need and get folks off the street.
Murphy – Some of the projects that were mentioned, the navigation center in Merced, for example, were projects that I was fortunate to be a part of, but let me tell you about the way forward.
You know, the $24 billion that he’s mentioned. It’s a real thing. We need to understand that. But it’s gone towards a housing first approach, and it hasn’t worked. There are mental health issues, there are drug addiction issues, and just giving houses to people doesn’t solve the problem. We need to have more of a focus on treatment.
Housing comes with that, but treatment, having having resources there, supporting things like I did as the mayor for a homeless court and other care courts … there are opportunities for the homeless to make changes in their lives, to overcome obstacles to employment, to get a driver’s license … or get treatment that they desperately need. We have to do more than just housing. It has to be treatment as well.
Uppal – I just did want to clarify when I’m referring to housing first – I am including with that, the services that these folks need, the treatment that they need for any substance abuse issues and mental health issues. That’s the way that they do it.
In Finland. They have nearly eradicated homelessness. And I want us to take that same approach here in California. I don’t think the approach is the issue. I think that the administration and the oversight is the issue, and we have a lack of accountability in Sacramento,
Murphy – I would say it’s both. It’s both the administration and it’s the approach. If we want to do something, you know, if we want a different outcome, we’ve got to do something different. And what we’ve been doing is not working.
We also need to prioritize our veterans, whether that’s the Project Homekey type, you know. But in my experience, it’s also been VASH vouchers at the federal level through HUD. But we have to do things differently if we’re going to expect a different outcome, and there has to be more of a treatment aspect.
The FOCUS – A large portion of District 27 includes small towns on the Valley’s Westside, which often face challenges to provide critical services and maintain essential infrastructure.
What are some avenues that you can pursue in the legislature to secure funding for capital projects and other improvements that small cities can’t achieve with a small tax base?
Murphy – You are right that we have this shared heritage here in the Central Valley. But each place is different. Each town is different. The Westside is different than the Eastside in many respects.
And so if you’re talking about Firebaugh or Mendota or Coalinga, or others, Dos Palos, Los Banos, the issues are different. One of the critical needs there is clean drinking water, and there are opportunities in the state Legislature to remedy those in particular, through water bond monies that have already been passed by the voters, and making sure that there’s essential first responder services as well.
State government needs to be making sure that we make the critical investments that also includes healthcare investments. We need more providers. Here in our Valley, we need more doctors. It’s not just about coverage. We need better educational opportunities and prioritizing those areas, even those outlying areas, to make sure that every child has an opportunity to have a good education and the right start in life are critical and things that I’ll advocate for.
Uppal – I spent a ton of time on the Westside, knocking (on) doors, interacting with business owners. Water is a huge concern that they’ve mentioned, and I think we need to start by acknowledging the fact that money is not a barrier in the fourth largest economy in the world.
I mean, we just spent $250 million on a special election in November to gerrymander our state. How much of that money could have gone towards capital improvements for our communities, not just on the Westside, but all over our district?
So it starts with holding folks in Sacramento accountable when it comes to the budget. And you know, a lot of folks ask, ‘how are you going to bring Sacramento resources to the Valley? How are you going to take Sacramento to the Valley? I want to take the Valley to Sacramento. I want to empower our residents to advocate at the state level. Find creative ways to bring them to advocate for themselves. Work with our local elected officials to be present in Sacramento and show those folks that we are real, real people. We exist. We have real problems. We’re not going to sit here and watch them steal our resources to benefit their donors.
The FOCUS – In the Assembly, what would you do to make sure our youth are getting the best possible education?
Uppal – I think it starts with being an advocate, being willing to speak up on behalf of our youth, and listening to not just our local administrators, but our local teachers who are on the ground, dealing with the students every day and also listening to the students.
So one of the creative ways that we want to do this, not just with youth, but with multiple different groups of people in our district, is if (I am) elected to the Assembly, we’re going to have working groups. We’re going to have calls, a group set aside for different stakeholders. So that will be for students. We’ll do one with academics to advise on policy research.
We’ll have general calls for anybody in the district to get input and hear what they need. I think there’s a lot of accountability needed as it relates to how school districts spend their funds. I can point to at least a couple contracts that have come out of the Merced City School District, where these districts are just giving away hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars to outside consultants who are providing very little detail on how it’s going to benefit their students.
So we need to crack down on waste. We need to crack down on consultants that are getting overpaid for resources that are intended for students, and make sure that money is being spent in the right places.
Murphy – Well, we need to, we need to break the cycle of funding under-performing schools and allow students to go to the best schools, the best public schools, regardless of what neighborhood or ZIP code they live in. That also includes charter schools. Charter schools are public schools.
Just to be clear, people have a misconception that these are private schools. These are charter schools that have different areas of focus and and (are) tailored to the needs of students. That’s what we need to get back to, is the needs of the students, and not the needs of the California Teachers Association, which has a lot of pull in Sacramento. They are focused on the wages of teachers and the retirement benefits of teachers, which are important, but to think that they are focused primarily on student outcomes is to kid yourself.
So we need to make investments in schools that are going to pay dividends, focusing on the basics – reading, writing, arithmetic – and not the social wars that have become a big distraction and have real accountability.
There’s an unwillingness to even test because testing is now unfair. Now we need to be able to monitor where we’re at, and as a result, our kids will be the ones who are the beneficiaries of that.
The FOCUS – It’s time to move into closing messages.
Murphy – Tonight, we’ve discussed Sacramento’s vision for California, a vision that doubles down on Sacramento policies that have given us high energy costs, which I’d love to talk about more, (the) homelessness crisis, elevated crime, which we could go into, more (the) massive budget deficit, we could discuss and a war on our water rights.
My vision is different. If you want to change, you have to vote for a change. And if you want a California, where you can afford to fill up your gas tank, to fill up your shopping cart, to have peace of mind that our young people are actually being educated, and even have a little extra in your pocket before you get your next paycheck – I ask for your vote.
I’m not a career politician looking for a promotion. I’m a neighbor with a track record looking to save the place we call home. We need a representative who will stand up to their own party when they’re wrong and work across the aisle when it’s right for us. If you want someone who will put District 27 first every single day I ask for your vote.
Let’s bring some Valley common sense to the State Capital.
Uppal – I’d like to start by thanking you all for hosting this debate for us again. It’s an honor and a privilege to be able to have this fight. You know, I am joining a group of populist candidates all over our country, and there’s some in our state who have had enough of politicians selling out to billionaires, to private corporations and to special interests.
And the reality is, that it doesn’t matter what we try and sell you when we’re speaking to you, if we have already sold out to those interests, nothing we say matters, because our allegiance is bought.
I’m the only candidate in this election that is rejecting contributions from private corporations who have purchased our politicians and made life unaffordable for all of us. We’re willing to fight against anyone that gets in the way of what’s best for our people here in this district and in our state, whether they’re Democrats or Republicans or billionaires or private corporations or special interests or if they’re based in another country, we will have to fight.
We have had enough of being sold out of being exploited, and we’re ready to take that to Sacramento.
The FOCUS – This concludes the Merced Focus debate involving candidates for Assembly District 27. We appreciate your willingness to answer our questions and to serve the public. Viewers, check back for more debates at themercedfocus.org, and don’t forget to vote.
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