Stanislaus County voters will weigh in on a number of intriguing races in the June 2 Primary, including for local representation in the California Legislature and the U.S. House – now dominated by Republicans.
Some local office holders – notably Assemblyman Juan Alanis and County Supervisor Terry Withrow – will retain their seats for lack of an opponent when the candidate filing period closed 5 p.m. Friday, March 6.
Candidates for state offices must be certified by the secretary of state in a process that normally runs through late March, so stay tuned for updates. The top two vote-getters in June, regardless of party, will advance to November’s general election.
House of Representatives California District 5
Not many days ago this race was shaping up as one worthy of national attention. That changed when Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley announced on March 2 he would seek another congressional seat rather than challenge longtime incumbent and fellow Republican Tom McClintock.
Democrats Michael Masuda and Mike Barkley also are running.
With Proposition 50’s new boundaries, District 5 became a little more red. It includes east Stanislaus County and all or part of Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Madera, Mariposa and Tuolumne counties.
House of Representatives California District 13
Incumbent Democrat Adam Gray will seek a second two-year term in office. One Democrat has filed papers to challenge Gray – a behavioral health manager named Daniel Garibay Rodriguez.
On the Republican side, President Donald Trump has endorsed former Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln, and Lathrop tech CEO Vin Kruttiventi is bringing a fierce primary challenge.
California’s 13th Congressional District includes Merced County in its entirety, plus parts of San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Madera and Fresno counties. The district runs vertically through the San Joaquin Valley, roughly from Lathrop in the north to Coalinga in the south.
State Assembly District 9
Lodi’s Jim Shoemaker, who has never held office, under normal circumstances would pose little threat to incumbent Heath Flora, the most powerful Republican in the Assembly. But party leaders in the district’s two largest counties – San Joaquin and Stanislaus – scrambled the landscape by endorsing Shoemaker, telling The Modesto Focus that Flora has been inattentive to local needs.
Also running are Democrat Matthew Adams and a third Republican, Brandon Owen.
With support of more than 80% of the district’s constituency, Shoemaker was eligible for the state GOP’s endorsement, but Flora was able to block that on March 3. Now in question is how badly the three GOP candidates will split the conservative vote in a reliably red district, perhaps opening a path for Adams to the November general election.
District 9 includes Ripon, Escalon, Oakdale, Riverbank, Salida, Waterford and Hughson as well as parts of Sacramento, Calaveras and Amador counties.
State Senate District 4
Similar dynamics – too many conservative candidates running in a red district – allowed then-Democrat Marie Alvarado-Gil to claim an upset victory four years ago.
In August 2024, Alvarado-Gil switched parties. This time she is challenged by fellow Republican Alexandra Duarte, wife of former Rep. John Duarte, and they will vie for the hearts of conservative voters in a red district. Will they dilute the Republican vote enough to allow Democrat Jaron Brandon, a Tuolumne County supervisor, to advance to the November general election?
State Senate District 4 includes a section of central California, running along the Nevada border on its eastern edge, but dipping into Stanislaus County and parts of Madera, Mariposa and Merced counties.
Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors
Political newcomer Jennifer Anne “Rally” Valenzuela, a caregiver, will challenge incumbent Mani Grewal in District 4, the only supervisorial district largely comprised of Modesto, plus Del Rio.
Grewal, a businessman, was appointed to the seat by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020 and was elected in 2022, when he beat Joel DeGraef by carrying 79 percent of the vote.
Withrow’s District 3 includes Salida, much of west Modesto and unincorporated areas west of town, which he has represented for 16 years. A potential opponent pulled papers early in the filing period but did not return them.
It’s notable that Democrats are fielding no challengers to Withrow or Alanis, both conservatives, in left-leaning districts.
Alanis, first elected in 2022, is completing his second two-year term in Assembly District 22 whose core is Stanislaus County with a sliver of north Merced County. He has risen to second-in-command of Flora in the Assembly’s Republican superminority.
That both top Assembly GOP leaders hail from Modesto is a remarkable note for a midsized city – 19th largest in California, with about 220,000 people.
Modesto City Council and other local races
The first round of voting for Modesto City Council elections will be in November, along with the Modesto Irrigation District board.
The filing period is extended to Wednesday in races for two county offices without incumbents because Assessor Don Gaekle and Treasurer-Tax Collector Donna Riley are retiring. So far, their assistants are running – respectively, Matt Reavill and Dolores Sarenana.
Also unopposed this year are Schools Superintendent Scott Kuykendall, Auditor-Controller Mandip Dhillon and Clerk-Recorder Donna Linder; and Superior Court Judges Sarah Birmingham, Saul Garcia, David Hood, Jeff Mangar, John Mayne, Linda McFadden, Annette Rees, Sonny Sandhu, Kellee Westbrook, Robert Westbrook and Clifford Tong.
Ballots will arrive by mail the first week of May. The Stanislaus elections office will open 32 vote centers a few days before the June 2 election, plus 28 more drop boxes on Election Day scattered throughout the county.
Voters can mail their ballots at no charge, but they must be postmarked by June 2 and all mail collected here runs through Sacramento to receive postmarks, sometimes taking more than a day. To make sure ballots are counted, “we recommend sending them at least seven days before (the election), just to be safe,” said Linder, whose office runs Stanislaus elections.