The primary and midterm elections set for 2022 will look a bit different thanks to redistricting, but one thing will remain the same for local voters when it comes time to fill out their ballots: they’ll have plenty of decisions to make.
The candidate nomination period for locals looking to run for elected office is open from Feb. 14 to March 11, though those who plan on turning in signatures in-lieu of filing fee petitions can do so from Jan. 3 to Feb. 9.
At the federal level, Ceres voters will decide who should represent them in Congress — under a new Congressional district. Ceres is now in the new District 13. Harder has already announced his intent to run in the Latino-heavy 13th district, though it’s unclear who will step forward to claim the open seat in the new fifth district which covers the eastern half of Stanislaus County, including Hughson, Waterford, Hickman and Oakdale.
Redistricting takes place every 10 years following the U.S. census, and the new boundary lines in California have been drawn by an independent, 14-member commission twice now since 2010. The redrawing of map has a lot of folks confused as to who will represent them and which elected officials will be moving with the new districts.
Ceres is now part of the 22nd Assembly District, along with Turlock, Modesto, Patterson, Newman and Gustine, and east into Snelling. Assemblyman Adam Gray will likely remain in the new 27th Assembly District, which includes Merced and Delhi and stretches down to Coalinga.
This year will be heavy with an assortment of other local political races as well.
The terms of District 2 Ceres City Councilwoman Linda Ryno and James Casey who was elected to the District 1 seat on Aug. 31 will be up for grabs in November. Casey was only elected to fill the vacancy left by the January 2021 resignation of Channce Condit until the November 2022 election.
Ceres City Council District 4 voters will also be voting on a new councilmember, which is now occupied by appointee Mike Kline who only serves until the end of the year. Kline has been mulling a run for the seat.
Four of the seven seats on the Ceres Unified School District Board of Trustees will be decided in November. Trustee Area 2 board member Mike Welsh is not expected to run for re-election as he is moving to Nevada. Valli Wigt, the trustee for Area 3 (Westport) faces an election as do Lourdes Perez (Trustee Area 5) and Betty Davis (Area 6).
Three seats on the Hughson Unified School District Board of Trustees will be up for election. They are: Randee Harcrow in Trustee Area 2, Randall “Randy” Heckman in Trustee Area 4 and the vacant seat for Trustee Area 5.
Three seats on the Keyes Union School District Board of Trustees are up in 2022. Filling those seats presently are Jimmy Emmons, Sr. (Area 2), Jeff Reed (Area 3) and Wesley A. Greene (Area 5).
In the city of Hughson, the terms of Mayor George Carr and Councilmen Michael Buck and Harold Hill will be decided by voters.
Stanislaus County voters will be deciding on a new sheriff, assessor, auditor-controller, county clerk-recorder, district attorney, superintendent of schools and treasurer-tax collector.
Stanislaus County Sheriff Jeff Dirkse is up for reelection, and 26-year sheriff’s department veteran Juan Alanis has announced his own campaign as well. In 2018, Dirkse defeated Alanis by nearly a six-point margin.
A number of judge positions are up next year. They are Shawn D. Bessey, Alan Cassidy, Ricardo Cordova, John D. Freeland, Marcus L. Mumford, Dawna F. Reeves and Ruben Villalobos
As for Turlock Irrigation District, Charles Fernandes (Division 2), Joe Alamo (Division 3) and Ronald Macedo (Division 5) will see their terms expire this year, and the Keyes Municipal Advisory Council will have three open seats on the ballot.
The Courier will update candidate lists for elected offices as they are announced. For a full list of elected officials and their terms, visit https://www.stanvote.com/pdf/elected-officials-list.pdf.
Jeff Benziger contributed to this report.
