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, Turlock voters will decide who should represent them in Congress — though the new district maps will have half of Turlock in the new District 13 deciding between incumbent democrat Josh Harder and challengers, while the other half in District 5 selects their own representative. 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.
Turlockers will also decide upon new representation at the state level, with State Senator Andreas Borgeas announcing his intent to run for Congress in the Fresno area and Assemblyman Heath Flora running in the newly-created District 9, which includes his hometown of Ripon. Turlock is now a part of the new Senate District 4 and Assembly District 22, where candidates have yet to announce their campaigns.
At the county level, there are several decisions that will be on the ballot for local voters. 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.
Stanislaus County Superintendent of Schools Scott Kuykendall is also up for reelection, and the Stanislaus County Board of Education Area 2 seat, which includes Turlock, is also up for grabs in 2022 as Alice Pollard’s term expires. Additionally, there are seven Superior Court Judge seats that will be up for election this year.
In Turlock, Mayor Amy Bublak’s term is expiring, though she has not yet announced whether or not she’ll be running for reelection. Council seats in District 1 and District 3, currently held by Nicole Larson and Andrew Nosrati, respectively, will also be up for grabs as their terms expire.
Three seats on the Turlock Unified School District Board of Trustees will open in Areas 2, 4 and 6 as the terms of Lori Carlson, Mary Jackson and Jeff Cortinas expire, and Denair Unified School District will have two available Board seats with the expiration of Regina Gomes’ and Crystal Sousa’s seats. Keyes Union School District Board seats for Areas 2, 3 and 5 will be on the ballot as well.
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 Denair and Keyes Community Services Districts will see two and four seats, respectively, up for election on the ballot next year as well.
The Journal 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.
