Former deputy leads race for Merced County Supervisor District 1 seat

MERCED COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- The incumbent for the Merced County Board of Supervisors District 1 might lose his seat to a retired sheriff's sergeant.

"When we first saw the numbers, I almost thought it was a mistake. I mean, am I reading this right? So someone had to come and say yes, this is the right number," said Jim Pacheco, a board of supervisors candidate.

Pacheco is sharing the shock he felt when the first round of votes were released for Tuesday's Primary Election.

The former Merced County Sergeant is in the lead to replace incumbent Rodrigo Espinoza.

This is Pacheco's second time running for County Board of Supervisors.

He lost the general election in 2012, but he says he's feeling a little more optimistic this time.

"I will work hard for all the constituents in the county, especially in district one. I worked for the sheriff's department, like I said, for 35 years. I've been a public servant. And I want to continue to serve the public as a board of supervisors," said Pacheco.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Pacheco has more than 54% of the votes.

"I'm feeling very positive even though the numbers don't show it yet. But I think by this Friday, we'll have a bigger voter release," said Pacheco.

Incumbent Rodrigo Espinoza believes he may be in a runoff with Pacheco in November.

"I think my work speaks for itself. I'm all over not just my district but all over the county. Like I said, I go wherever people call me, so I'm just there to help the community and change the county for the better," Espinoza said.

But not everyone believes Espinoza has done a good job.

Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke says Espinoza is not a team player.

"I think there's been a lot of times within his reign as the district one supervisor he would do things that he thought he could get away with. Like bringing people unannounced, he was going to appoint them to committees. He just didn't get it," Warnke explained.

In response to Warnke's remarks, Espinoza says he doesn't work for the sheriff. He works for the people of Merced County.

Espinoza adds that he feels the sheriff never wanted to keep an open flow of communication with him.

Still, Warnke believes Pacheco will do a better job if he secures the votes.

On Wednesday, workers were seen processing mail-in ballots.

Mel Levey, registrar of voters, says 90% of the votes cast will be processed through this machine.

"What my department is doing is working through the ballots that remain to be counted. And so, the big effort for today, we need to send up to the Secretary of State a number, a preliminary number that we're looking at of ballots still need to be counted," said Levey.

Levey says his department will release updated voting numbers on Friday.

The registrar of voters' office has 30 days to certify the election, but he anticipates it will be done before then.

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