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Congressional race heats up in run up to March primary
Alanis, Self look to repeat Assembly seat contest
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Joe Cortez
Turlock Journal
Updated: Dec 27, 2023, 1:48 AM
Published: Dec 27, 2023, 1:47 AM

The races for two congressional seats and one assembly seat are taking shape with California’s March 5 open primary a little over two months away.

In California’s 22nd assembly district, incumbent Juan Alanis (R-Modesto) and Democratic challenger Jessica Self are the only two candidates who currently appear on the Stanislaus County ballot. That still could change, however, with the California Secretary of State’s office setting a Thursday deadline. If no other candidate comes forward, then Alanis and Self will be guaranteed a spot on the November 2024 ballot since he top two primary vote-getter, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election.

It would be a rematch of the 2022 race in which Alanis — a former Stanislaus County Sheriff’s deputy — garnered more than 60,000 total votes (58.1 percent) while Self — who spent nine years in the county public defender’s office — tallied nearly 44,000 (41.9 percent).

When the Citizens Redistricting Commission redrew California’s electoral maps, it didn’t include an incumbent in the 22nd district, thus creating a rare wide-open seat. And since neither Alanis nor Self had previously held elected office, they had no political records to defend.

While the Alanis-Self rematch could be closer this time around based on changing campaign dynamics, another rematch not expected to get much tighter is California’s 5th congressional district race.

Incumbent Rep. Tom McClintock (R-El Dorado Hills), is seeking his ninth term in the House of Representatives. His opponents, according to StanVote.com will be Democrat Mike Barkley and a candidate named Steve Wozniak, who lists no party preference.

In 2022, McClintock and Barkley squared off in the general election, with McClintock receiving nearly 174,000 votes (61.3 percent) and Barkley getting about 110,000 (39.7 percent).

Unlike the Alanis-Self assembly race, McClintock had a lengthy record to defend, and the voters chose that record decisively.

As big a blowout as the District 5 race was, the 2022 District 13 contest between political newcomer John Duarte (R-Hughson) and then-Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced) was one of the closest races in the country.

Gray and Duarte
Democrat Adam Gray (on left) says he is running against incumbent John Duarte for California’s 13th Congressional District.

Rep. Duarte and Gray are the only two candidates currently listed for District 13 on StanVote.com for District 13.

This race, decided by a mere 564 votes in 2022, figures to be close again, especially when you consider a recent shift in voter-registration trends in the county.

As of Oct. 3 of this year, Stanislaus County had a total of 360,590 eligible voters, of which 285,609 have registered to vote (79.21 percent). That figure is down slightly from 2020, when 80.66 of eligible voters in the county were registered.

However, Democrats have made slight gains since. Of those 285,609 registered voters, 110,214 (38.59 percent) are Democrats, while 97,882 (34.27 percent) are Republicans. In 2020, 38.43 percent were registered as Democrats, while 35.25 percent were Republicans. That’s a slight .16 percent increase for Democrats and a decrease of 3.18 percent for Republicans.

“There is definitely a trend toward more Democratic voters in our area,” said Stanislaus County Democratic Party chair Lise Talbott. “Stanislaus County has been blue for some time, but it tends to vote purple. In talking to some of my Republican friends, they’ve become frustrated with their party and have registered as Libertarian or decline to state or something else. They may still vote Republican, but there’s been more of an ideological shift in their party.”

Stanislaus County Supervisors Vito Chiesa (District 2), Buck Condit (District 1) and Channce Condit (District 5) are up for re-election and all will run unopposed.

 
Corruption scandal claims another top-tier StanCOG employee
StanCOG
The Stanislaus Council of Governments board is shown meeting on Sept. 17 (GARTH STAPLEY / The Modesto Focus).
Published: Sep 20, 2025, 8:05 AM

BY GARTH STAPLEY

Modesto Focus

Both top StanCOG employees caught up in a corruption scandal have left the embattled transportation agency, members of its policy board have confirmed.

Cindy Malekos, second in command when Stanislaus civil grand jurors posted a blistering report in June, retired earlier this week rather than face the possibility of discipline or termination, StanCOG policy board members told The Modesto Focus.

Her exit comes six weeks after the Stanislaus Council of Governments’ policy board fired executive director Rosa De Leon Park in the wake of a grand jury report calling into question both employees’ vacation payouts and travel expenses.

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The two were StanCOG’s only employees benefiting from a mysterious change in vacation terms granting Malekos 10 weeks of vacation, and Park 11 weeks, and allowing them to cash out whatever they didn’t use, the grand jury found.

Members of the policy board, composed of elected officials from Stanislaus County and its nine cities, have said they never approved the new vacation policy. Its rules could have allowed Park to cash out as much as $55,000 a year.

The grand jury also questioned Park’s stays at luxury hotels, first-class flights, and a pontoon boat rental, all on the public dime.

A J.P. Morgan Chase Bank credit card in Malekos’ name was responsible for $121,368 in spending over the past five years, according to a Modesto Focus analysis of financial records. Of that total, nearly $25,000 went toward travel, including $19,278 for hotels, the records show, and she also spent $906 on gift cards.

Malekos was not reached for comment. Whether she had covered expenses for others in her position as head of administrative services could not be immediately determined.

The policy board voted Wednesday to cancel the excessive vacation policy, which reverted to another approved in 2021 capping vacation at five weeks for StanCOG’s longest serving employees.

StanCOG has retained an independent consultant to investigate the agency’s finances and travel. A report is expected to take several weeks.

Meanwhile, another longtime employee appointed as interim executive director when Park was fired has also retired. 

The policy board on Wednesday thanked Elizabeth Hahn, who briefly joined the meeting via Zoom. Succeeding her with the same title – interim executive director – is Jean Foletta, who had been serving as operations deputy director.

The policy board also on Wednesday approved an official response to the grand jury report. StanCOG refused to provide a copy of the response for public inspection and input before the vote was taken at 9:42 p.m., just after the board met in closed session to discuss “potential litigation.”