Chances are that you may have already voted since ballots were mailed out weeks ago but if you haven’t, there are plenty of decisions that await you with Tuesday being the point of no return.
Voters in Ceres and Hughson have decisions about school bonds and city council races while everyone will be focused on the big race for the White House between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris. There’s also an important congressional race and 10 statewide propositions you’ll be asked to decide on.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) and former baseball star Steve Garvey, a Republican, are running for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by the late Dianne Feinstein.
Voters in Ceres and the mostly western half of Stanislaus County voters will be deciding if Congressman John Duarte, R-Modesto, continues to represent the 13th Congressional District or is replaced by Adam Gray, a Merced Democrat and former state Assemblyman. Gray narrowly lost to Duarte two years ago but in the March primary vote disparity was greater with Duarte collecting 47,219 votes (54.9 percent) to Gray’s 38,754 votes (45.1 percent).
Most of Modesto and the eastern half of Stanislaus County including Hughson fall within the 5th Congressional District represented by Republican Tom McClintock. He is being challenged by perennial Democrat candidate Michael “Mike” Barkley of Manteca.
Voters in the 22nd State Assembly District will decide if Juan Alanis, R-Modesto, goes back to Sacramento or is replaced by Democrat Jessica Self, a public defender who ran unsuccessfully for that office two years ago. In 2022, Alanis defeated Self by a margin of 58.1 percent to 41.9 percent. The 22nd Assembly district includes Ceres, Keyes, Modesto, Turlock, Empire, Denair, Patterson, Gustine, Newman, Hilmar, Ballico, Snelling, Grayson, Crows Landing, Diablo Grande and Stevinson.
Eastern Stanislaus County residents – including those living in Hughson – will vote in the 9th Assembly District race. Assemblyman Heath Flora, a Ripon Republican, is being challenged by Tami Nobriga, an American Independent Party candidate, retired advertising businesswoman and conservative Christian.
The office of mayor of Ceres is up for grabs with incumbent Javier Lopez seeking another four-year seat with two challengers: Gary M. Condit, a member of the Ceres Planning Commission; and Councilwoman Rosalinda Vierra.
Also running for re-election, District 3 Ceres City Councilman Bret Silveira is being challenged by Cerina Otero, a member of the Ceres Planning Commission.
Hughson voters will decide who fills two seats opening on the City Council. Incumbent councilmen Alan McFadon and Sam Rush are seeking re-election and challenged by Abel Morin, Brian Evans, Susana Vasquez and Billy Gonzales.
In the Yosemite Community College District Trustee Area 7, which encompasses Ceres, running are incumbent board trustee Antonio Aguilar and his challenger, M. Geri Vargas of Ceres, a retired executive assistant.
Voters in the Ceres Unified School District will be asked to approve Measure Y on Nov. 5 that would add an assessment to property tax bills to improve Ceres school campuses.
If it passes, the measure will authorize the issuance of $114 million in bonds to repair or upgrade Ceres elementary, middle, and high schools; improve campus safety and security systems; repair or replace leaky roofs, upgrade outdated heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical systems; repair or replace deteriorating portable classrooms; and update classroom equipment and learning technology.
The “Ceres Unified School District Campus Safety / Classroom Repair Measure” would levy $60 per $100,000 of assessed property value annually for approximately 30 years. The tax bill for the median tax assessment value of $238,855 in Ceres would pay about $140 per year. Those with an assessed value of $300,000 would pay an extra $180 on their annual property tax bill.
The measure must receive a 55 percent plus none majority “yes” vote to pass.
Also on the ballot are:
• Measure B — Regards improvements to within the Hughson Unified School District and seeks to authorize $46 million in bonds at legal rates, with levies averaging $60 per $100,000 assessed value while bonds are outstanding (approximately $2.9 million annually).
• Measure H – a bond measure put forth by the Keyes Fire Protection District to raise $7 million to build a new fire station and buy firefighting equipment. The measure requires a two-thirds majority approval; provided, however, that if Assembly Constitutional Amendment (“ACA 1”) is approved by California voters on the same day, the measure shall be deemed to be approved if approved by at least 55% of the registered voters voting on the proposition. Keyes property owners would pay the annual tax needed to repay the principal and interest on the bonds would be $29 per $100,000 of assessed valuation expected to be collected until 2055-2056. The estimated maximum tax rate is $38 per $100,000 of assessed valuation with a levy starting in fiscal year 2026-27.
• Measure P — Would implement a cannabis business tax in the county’s unincorporated areas of up to 4 percent of gross receipts, 8 percent retail gross receipts, the greater of 4 percent cultivation gross receipts or $8 per canopy square foot. The measure could generate approximately $1.7 million annually.
• Measure U — $8.5 million in bonds for improvements within the Keyes Union School District. It is expected to generate about $515,000 annually while bonds are outstanding, at a rate of approximately $29 per $100,000 in assessed value.
Statewide propositions
Proposition 2 – This would authorize the state to borrow $8.5 billion for K-12 schools and $1.5 billion for community colleges for construction and modernization.
Prop. 3 – This constitutional amendment would remove outdated language from Proposition 8, passed by voters in 2008, that characterizes marriage as only between a man and a woman.
Prop. 4 – This bond issue would allow the state to borrow $3.8 billion for drinking water and groundwater programs, $1.5 billion for wildfire and forest programs and $1.2 billion for sea level rise. In part, the money would offset some budget cuts.
Prop. 5 –This constitutional amendment would make it easier for local governments to borrow money for affordable housing and some other public infrastructure projects by lowering the voter approval requirement from two-thirds to 55%.
Prop. 6 – This constitutional amendment would limit forced labor in state prisons,. The California Black Legislative Caucus included the proposal in its reparations agenda.
Prop. 32 –This initiative would raise the overall minimum wage from $16 an hour and adjust it for inflation, fast food workers received a $20 an hour minimum on April 1 and health care workers will eventually get $25, though not until at least Oct. 15.
Prop. 33 – This is the latest attempt to roll back a state law that generally prevents cities and counties from limiting rents in properties first occupied after Feb. 1, 1995.
Prop. 34 – Require certain providers to use prescription drug revenue for patients. Sponsored by the trade group for California’s landlords, this measure is squarely aimed at knee-capping the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which has been active in funding ballot measures.
Prop. 35 – This initiative is sponsored by California’s health care industry to raise more money for Medi-Cal and block lawmakers from using the cash to avoid cuts to other programs. The tax is set to expire in 2026.
Prop. 36 – This measure — supported by Republicans and law enforcement but opposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and most Democrats — would partly roll back Proposition 47, approved by voters in 2014, that turned some felonies into misdemeanors. The measure is in response to an increase in retail theft since Prop. 47 was passed in 2014.
