Skip to main content

School District · Statewide General Election

Merced County Board of Education, Trustee Area 2

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

This person would hold one of five trustee-area seats on the Merced County Board of Education, which sets policy for the Merced County Office of Education -- the office that oversees local school district budgets, runs county-wide special-education and alternative-education programs, and hears expulsion and inter-district-transfer appeals. A 4-year term.

Merced County's Board of Education has a contested race for its Trustee Area 2 seat: appointed incumbent Ryan Richard Heller, seeking his first elected term, faces challenger Guadalupe M. "Lupe" Gonzalez.

The winner serves a 4-year term on the county's 5-member Board of Education, which sets policy for the Merced County Office of Education -- the office that oversees local school district budgets, runs county-wide special-education and alternative-education programs, and hears expulsion and inter-district-transfer appeals from the county's local school districts.

Heller's sitting incumbency is independently confirmed on the county office of education's own current board roster, which lists him as the Area 2 member with a term expiring this year -- consistent with his "Appointed Incumbent" ballot designation. Beyond that structural fact, neither candidate drew any independent news coverage in this pass, and neither has a findable campaign platform: Gonzalez's "Lead Care Manager" ballot designation is the only public information about her found in this pass.

Ryan Richard Heller

Ryan Richard Heller is the appointed incumbent trustee for Area 2, seeking his first elected term under the ballot designation "Appointed Incumbent." The Merced County Office of Education's own current board roster independently confirms his sitting membership. No public statement, campaign platform, or news coverage of his 2026 candidacy was found in this pass.

Strengths

Already serving on the board by appointment, per the county office of education's own current roster -- direct, independently confirmed familiarity with the board's work.

Trade-offs

Has not yet won election to the seat; no campaign platform, public statement, or news coverage explaining his record or priorities was found in this pass.

Keep in mind

How or when he was appointed, and to fill what vacancy, could not be confirmed this pass -- only that the county's own current roster lists him as the sitting Area 2 member.

Guadalupe M. "Lupe" Gonzalez

Guadalupe M. "Lupe" Gonzalez is challenging appointed incumbent Ryan Richard Heller for the Area 2 seat, filed under the ballot designation "Lead Care Manager." No campaign website, public statement, or news coverage of her candidacy was found in this pass.

Strengths

A "Lead Care Manager" ballot designation, distinct from the incumbent's institutional board experience -- the only differentiation available from the public record.

Trade-offs

No campaign website, public statement, prior public role, or news coverage was found in this pass.

Keep in mind

Beyond her name, ballot designation, and the fact that no Candidate Statement was filed under her name, this dataset found no independent information about her background or priorities -- an absence, not a judgment.

Source review: Strong (85/100) · 3 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • countyofmerced.com (opens in a new tab)Merced County Elections Division -- "November 3, 2026 General Election -- All Contests -- Final Qualified Candidate List" (CFMR009, printed 8/25/2026 3:26:53PM): names John Magneson and Peg Larson for Board of Education Area 1, and Ryan Richard Heller and Guadalupe M. "Lupe" Gonzalez for Area 2, each "On Ballot: Yes."
  • mcoe.org (opens in a new tab)Merced County Office of Education -- "Board of Education" (mcoe.org/superintendent/board-of-education): the office's own current trustee roster, confirming Area 1's sitting member (Dennis Hanks) did not file for another term and that Area 2's sitting member is Ryan Heller.
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS filer search: a client-rendered page that returned no extractable content via this session's tools for any of the four Board of Education candidates -- a documented access block, not evidence about any candidate's actual campaign finances. No Merced County-run local campaign-finance portal could be located either.

Last updated September 2, 2026.