The race for Merced City Council District 5 is now a two-person race, at least in terms of who’s still campaigning.
Felipe Rojas-Flores, who was running with the goal of unseating incumbent Councilmember Sarah Boyle, announced Monday on his social media page that he’s dropping out of the race.
Rojas-Flores, who works as a public interest attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance, said in a news release that he recently learned he would be unable to keep his job and also serve on the City Council.
“I would not have run, had I known this at the outset,” Rojas-Flores said in the release.
The Merced FOCUS reached Rojas-Flores for comment Tuesday afternoon. He said although he’s not able to run for City Council this time around, he won’t rule out running for office in the future.
Rojas-Flores said he decided to run for District 5 because of the exorbintant price of homes here. Rojas-Flores said even though he’s an attorney, he can’t afford to buy a home locally.
He also expects to remain involved in the community by volunteering and other ways. “I have a vested future in the success of Merced,” he told The FOCUS. “If Merced succeeds, it will be a better place to live.”
With Rojas-Flores ending his campaign, the race will now be a head-to-head contest between Boyle and Alex Carrillo, a communications and policy director. Rojas-Flores said he is endorsing Carrillo in the race.
But even though Rojas-Flores is no longer campaigning, he’s still on the ballot. Merced County Registrar of Voter Melvin Levey said his office started mailing ballots to registered voters Monday, and the deadline to make any changes has expired.
District 5 includes part of northwest Merced, which includes Shawdowbrook/Willowbrook drives, Olive Avenue west of G Street, Loughborough area, and El Portal/Buena Vista drives west of G Street.
Other city races
In southeast Merced’s District 1, candidates Walter Smith, a coach and city planning commissioner is running against civil attorney Darin DuPont. Councilmember Jesse Ornelas is not seeking another term.
In downtown’s District 3, the three candidates are retired sheriff’s sergeant and planning commissioner Mike Harris, Merced SPCA president Cynthia Kelly and Sair Lara Rodriguez, who is an educator and business owner. Councilmember Bertha Perez is not seeking another term.
Merced Mayor Matthew Serratto is running for a second term. He’s being challenged by El Capitan High teacher Anthony Levi Martinez, who previously served on the Merced City Council.
Serratto and Martinez are scheduled to debate at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8 in the Sam Pipes Room at the Merced Civic Center, where the city council meets.