MERCED, Calif. — Early voting results for the Merced County Superintendent of Schools race show a close contest between three candidates, with Merced River Superintendent Richard Lopez in the lead.
Lopez has served as superintendent of Merced River School District for more than a decade, after serving in aide, teacher and principal roles at Winton Middle School and Planada Elementary.
According to his Facebook page, he is focused on education and college to career pathways, school safety and fiscal responsibility for schools, districts and communities.
Preliminary voting results at 11 p.m. Tuesday showed Lopez in the lead with almost 34% percent of the votes. Lopez told KVPR and The Merced FOCUS he’s not celebrating yet.
“We still sit here and we wait for the next update, and obviously it's still too close, but I'm feeling OK about it,” he said.
Lopez attributes some of this early success to the public’s reaction to recent coverage of his school district’s finances. KVPR and The Merced FOCUS reported last week that Merced County Office of Education referred Merced River to the state Fiscal Crisis & Management Team (FCMAT) on an allegation of “misappropriation of funds” in March. FCMAT is an independent agency that provides guidance to school districts on business and financial management practices.
“That [article is] one thing that the current county office administration tried to throw at me to try to distract the voters, but obviously it did the opposite of that,” Lopez said.
“Instead of working with me and my district to try to correct some of those findings that they had, they went the opposite and tried to smear me because of the campaign, and I get it. It's politics,” he said. “The person in charge of the county office of education, we all know who he's endorsing, and they use that against me.”
Lopez specified the “smear campaign” came from the current Superintendent of Schools, Steve Tietjen, who endorsed one of his competitors last month.
Tietjen responded to the news outlets late Tuesday night.
“I can't control Mr. Lopez's perception,” Tietjen said. “I have a responsibility to pass along concerns to FCMAT when I see them as county superintendent, and I was acting on that responsibility.”
Four candidates vying for the superintendent spot have long-term experience in school administration: Atwater Elementary Assistant Superintendent Ana Boyenga, El Nido Superintendent Paula Heupel, Alberto Velarde, a recently retired superintendent, and Lopez.
Heupel and Boyenga are battling it out for the second place spot, holding 27.91% and 28.39% respectively as of Tuesday night’s results. Velarde held 10.38%.
The Merced County Superintendent of Schools position is currently held by Tietjen, who was first appointed in 2016 before subsequently winning election. He announced he will retire in early December. The county office generally serves as assistance and support for school districts, and provides services in special education and enrichment programs.
The primary election will decide the top two vote-getters who will advance to the general election in November.
What candidates say
Lopez said he’s got a plan moving forward, and it’s to shake up the “status quo.”
“Do I believe that there's other stuff that needs still left to be uncovered? 100%,” he said. “I think some of those people that are in the system now want to keep a status quo, and I'm going to come in and change that.”
Lopez said he’s focusing on vulnerable student populations, including special education students. He also wants to examine student achievement scores and look at initiatives for early education.
“My goal is to work alongside all 20 superintendents to ensure that we do what's the best thing for the Merced County Office of Education, and all of our 59,000 plus students,” he said.
He was also quick to say he respects his top opponents Heupel and Boyenga.
“I think they bring a different skill set to try to change our systems, but I think for me it's having a sitting superintendent who understands the work,” Lopez said. “I'm saying that we make the decisions for our school districts that could affect the overall outcome of Merced County.”
Prior to El Nido, Heupel worked in administrative roles at Merced City School District and Merced County Office of Education. She also was a principal for Chenoweth Elementary in northeast Merced.
Her campaign website shows she’s focused on partnerships with parents, specialized support for students and financial transparency and accountability. Heupel didn’t respond to the news outlets’ call Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, Boyenga has served more than three decades at Atwater Elementary School District as a teacher, principal and administrator.
Her campaign focused on child literacy. Specifically, Boyenga wants to ensure every child can read at grade level by third grade. She also plans to increase teacher retention and career development programs.
“I'm encouraged about what I'm seeing tonight, and deeply grateful for the support my campaign has received,” Boyenga said. “I remain focused on our students supporting educators and just ensuring that every child and Merced County has the opportunity to succeed, just like I did.…I was born and raised in Atwater, educated here in Merced County.”
Velarde held administrative and leadership roles in Lodi Unified and Modesto City School District before retiring to focus on his campaign.
He told the news outlets he could still gain more votes, but it would be “a miracle” to move on to the general election. He is in support of Boyenga and Heupel moving on.
“I really believe that Richard Lopez is going to really stain our credibility because there's a lot of things in question about him, ethical questions,” Velarde said. “But [Boyenga] and [Heupel], they're very strong, and I think they could be the top two, because the first batch, it was 10% of the early voters, and people did not know what was going on on the other side with [Lopez].”
Velarde said he’s thinking of working in Merced County in the future to up his chances, if he chooses to run again.
