Incumbent Espinoza on way out? Updated totals show Merced County races all but decided

Shawn Jansen
·2 min read

The three Merced County Supervisor seats up for grabs appear to be decided based on the latest updates from Tuesday’s primary election — and one incumbent is staring at defeat.

The latest addition of 3,745 votes brought Friday’s total to 22,632.

There is still approximately 14,000 more ballots to be counted, having arrived via mail with postmarks of Election Day (March 5) or earlier.

But unless there is a major change in the early voting trends since Tuesday, likely nothing will change from the current unofficial results.

Merced County District 2 Supervisor Josh Pedrozo speaks with supporters while checking Primary Election voting results in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, March 5, 2024.
Merced County District 2 Supervisor Josh Pedrozo speaks with supporters while checking Primary Election voting results in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, March 5, 2024.

Merced County Supervisor District 1: Retired Merced County Sheriff’s deputy Jim Pacheco still appears well on his way to securing the 50% vote to avoid the November runoff and win the District 1 seat.

The latest results show Pacheco has received 55.4% of the 2,833 total votes in the district for a total of 1,570 votes.

Incumbent Rodrigo Espinoza, who is trying to win a third term, is a distant second with 22.4% (635 votes).

Maria Soto is in third with 15.9% of the votes, and Sonia Fernanda Alshami is fourth at 6.2%.

Merced County Supervisor District 2: Incumbent Josh Pedrozo still has a comfortable lead with 69.2% of the votes with a total of 4,244 votes. Local business woman Annissa Fragoso trails with 30.3% for a total of 1,856 votes.

Merced County Supervisor District 4: Incumbent Lloyd Pareira leads his two challengers convincingly with 62.5% of the votes for a total of 2,439 votes.

Dennis Brazil is second with 18.9% (737 votes) and Jim Soria is just behind Brazil iwth 18.3% (715 votes).

Superior Court Judge: Monika Saini-Donabed has a big lead in the race for Merced County Superior Court Judge. Saini-Donabed received 62.6% of the votes for a total of 12,488 votes.

Carlos Dammeier is second with 20.8% and Regina Adams is third with 16.6%.

A sign promoting Measure C in a front window of Five Ten Bistro in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, March 5, 2024.
A sign promoting Measure C in a front window of Five Ten Bistro in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, March 5, 2024.

Measure C: The renewal of Measure C, a half-cent sales tax that funds public safety and essential city services, has received strong support from voters.

The measure received 69.5% Yes votes from voters casting ballots, well ahead of the 50% plus one vote needed for passage. It has received 5,302 Yes votes compared to 2,328 No votes.

If approved by voters, Measure C would again have a 20-year lifespan and would be reviewed by a citizen’s oversight committee.

Measure C roughly funds 30 police and fire department jobs, according to officials.

According to Merced County Registrar of Voters Melvin Levey, there were 13,500 vote-by-mail ballots received before election day. As of Thursday, there were 1,500 vote-by-mail ballots received after election day.

The next updated results are expected to be released Wednesday, according to Levey.