Merced voters are on track to choose a veteran prosecutor to represent them for another four years in the city’s top elected seat.
Mayor Matthew Serratto had garnered a whopping 66.34% of the vote over challenger Anthony Levi Martinez’s 33.10%, as of 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Serratto, a prosecutor for the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, credited his victory to years of working with constituents.
He watched the election results roll in while attending a gathering Tuesday evening at Merced’s Italo American Lodge.
“I’ve spent the last four years just working as hard as I can every single day to help the city and to benefit the city,” he said. “Tonight’s vote is a reflection of that.”
“Trying to improve our roads is a major point of concern amongst our folks, amongst everybody across town, across all walks of life,” Serratto said. “Another big thing, (I will) continue to make improvements on public safety, continue to make improvements on homelessness and continue to improve our parks as well.”
The mayor wasn’t the only local incumbent who was on track to victory Wednesday morning. Sarah Boyle, who represents District 5 on the Merced City Council, was on track to defeat challenger Alex Carrillo, garnering 51.07% of the vote. Carrillo trailed behind at 33.17% of the vote. Felipe Rojas-Flores, who dropped out of campaigning for the race weeks ago, obtained 33.17%.
“Running a campaign in 2020 was a lot different this time around when you actually got to interact with people face to face,” Boyle said.
“I also feel that the experience that I have gained over the last four years beyond the council really set me apart, knowing the ins and outs of the city and what we’re really able to do.”
Boyle’s top priorities for her next term are bringing more jobs to Merced and looking for creative ways to fix roads across the community.
“More sales tax means more services that we can provide as a city,” Boyle said.
District 5 in Merced is south of Yosemite Avenue, bordered by G Street to the east and Bear Creek to the south. It also dips into areas near Santa Fe Drive and Ashby Road as well as near McSwain Road.
New faces joining Merced City Council
A civil attorney was chosen by voters Tuesday night to take the District 1 City Council seat, which includes southeast Merced. The seat was open after Jesse Ornelas decided not to seek reelection.
Darin DuPont was leading Wednesday morning over planning commissioner Walter Smith, garnering 52.72% of the vote. Smith trailed behind with 46.98% of the vote.
DuPont attributes his lead to the in-person discussions and door knocking that he and his team did during the campaigning season. He heard constituents’ concerns over economic development and infrastructure updates, and he expects both issues to take priority during his term in office.
“Just talking to voters in general, they’re looking for someone that is going to advocate for them and provide some opportunity to them as well,” he said.
Although he has never previously held elected office, DuPont secured many key endorsements in the race, including former Assemblyman Adam Gray, Merced County District Attorney Nicole Silveira and Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke.
Planning Commissioner Mike Harris appeared to be on his way to victory in Merced City Council District 3, which roughly includes the downtown region and the area around, bordered by the Bear Creek area on its northern edge to the area of Highway 99 on the southern edge, between McKee Road and V Street.
In his first time running for office, Harris pulled ahead with 48.08% of votes with Sair Lara Rodriguez trailing behind with 34.56%. Cynthia Kelly is in third place with 16.53% of the vote.
Harris attributed his lead to teamwork.
“Our platform, I think, resonated with people,” Harris said. “We talked about public safety, we talked about economic development to help lift the city up, and I think people responded well to that.”
Bertha Perez, the incumbent who represents District 3, chose not to seek re-election.
