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City of Merced · Statewide General Election

Merced City Council, District 4

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 three district seats up this cycle on Merced's 6-member City Council, serving a 4-year term: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for the county seat of Merced County, a charter city of about 86,333 residents (2020 Census). Merced runs under a council-manager government -- an appointed City Manager handles day-to-day operations -- and separately elects a Mayor citywide to a 4-year term; the Mayor isn't up this cycle.

Shane Smith, the incumbent representing District 4, is unopposed on the November ballot. One potential challenger, Lee Robert Boese Jr., publicly announced a run in July but doesn't appear on the county's final certified candidate list -- he didn't complete qualification.

Merced runs under a council-manager government: an appointed City Manager handles day-to-day operations, while a 6-member district City Council sets city ordinances, the budget, and land use. Voters also directly elect a Mayor citywide to a 4-year term, but that office isn't on this November's ballot. District 4 covers Merced's east side -- east of G Street, from the Bear Creek area north to Yosemite Avenue and a residential neighborhood near Cruickshank School.

Smith, first elected in 2022, is seeking a second term. He authored the city's current policy giving the council discretion to deny displaying hate-group flags at Bob Hart Square; when Councilmember Fue Xiong (District 6, also on this ballot) shared a meme comparing that policy to supporting the KKK, Smith publicly called the comparison "defamatory" and "demonstrably false."

Shane Smith

Shane Smith was first elected to the council in 2022 after previously serving as a Merced Unified School District trustee, where he worked to keep schools open during the pandemic. He's campaigning on public-safety funding ("we have fully funded our police and fire departments for the first time in probably a generation," he said at his campaign launch), support for commercial jet service at Merced Yosemite Regional Airport, affordable-housing investment, protecting agricultural land from sprawl, and beautification of parks, trails, and sidewalks. He's endorsed by the Merced City Firefighters Association and Merced Police Officers Association.

Strengths

A full first term in office, endorsements from both the city's firefighters' and police officers' associations, and a record of authored policy.

Trade-offs

His flag-display policy drew public criticism from a council colleague, showing real disagreement among sitting members about a policy he wrote.

Keep in mind

No challenger qualified for this race -- Lee Robert Boese Jr. filed intent to run in late July but is absent from the county's Aug. 25, 2026 certified candidate list, so this seat is effectively decided without a contest.

Source review: Strong (82/100) · 10 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context; advocacy or endorsement sources are treated as attributed perspective.

Review note: Shane Smith's own 2026 campaign site (shanesmithformercedcouncil4.com): self-described platform for reelection to District 4, including support for commercial jet service at Merced Yosemite Regional Airport, affordable-housing and homelessness investment, protecting agricultural land from sprawl, public-safety funding with "common-sense reforms," and parks/trail/sidewalk maintenance; states he was first elected in 2022 after serving as a Merced Unified School District trustee. may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • countyofmerced.com (opens in a new tab)Merced County -- official "November 3 2026 General Election -- All Contests -- Final Qualified Candidate List" (report CFMR009, printed 8/25/2026 3:26:53PM): the city section confirms exactly three Merced city rows on the ballot -- Councilmember District 2 (Felipe Rojas-Flores, "Legal Aid Attorney"; Yang Pao Thao, "Appointed Incumbent"), District 4 (Shane Smith, "Councilmember / Legal Counselor" -- the only qualified candidate), and District 6 (John G. Bliss Jr., "Retired Educator"; Yader Zeledon, "Small Business Owner"; Fue Xiong, "Engineer / Housing Advocate") -- with candidate statement filing dates for each. No "Merced Mayor" row appears anywhere in the document.
  • themercedfocus.org (opens in a new tab)The Merced FOCUS (nonprofit newsroom) -- "Merced City Council rejects expanded tenant protection proposal. 'It's not the right time.'" (Aug. 21, 2026): names the full sitting council roster by district -- Mayor Matthew Serratto; District 1, Darin DuPont; District 2, Yang Pao Thao; District 3, Mike Harris; District 4, Shane Smith; District 5, Sarah Boyle; District 6, Fue Xiong -- and reports District 6 Councilmember Fue Xiong's motion to add expanded tenant protections to a future agenda failing for lack of a second.
  • themercedfocus.org (opens in a new tab)The Merced FOCUS -- "Key city races take shape in Merced County. See who made the filing deadline" (Aug. 9, 2026): reports, after the close of filing, that District 6 incumbent Fue Xiong filed for reelection against John Bliss (a Buhach Colony High teacher who lost the same seat by six votes in 2018) and businessman Yader Zeledon; that District 2 incumbent Yang Pao Thao is running to retain his seat against attorney Felipe Rojas-Flores, who "previously ran for District 5 in 2024 but withdrew"; and that District 4 incumbent Shane Smith faced no qualified challenger ("no candidates qualified to compete against Smith on the ballot").
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia, "Merced, California": used narrowly for the fixed 2020 Census population figure (86,333) and for its own-worded confirmation that Merced "is a charter city that operates under a council-manager government."
  • mercedcountytimes.com (opens in a new tab)Merced County Times -- "Merced City Councilman Shane Smith launches reelection campaign" (July 31, 2026): reports Smith, incumbent for District 4, announced his reelection bid at a supporter's home gathering, campaigning on public-safety funding ("we have fully funded our police and fire departments for the first time in probably a generation") and Station 56 in northeast Merced, with endorsements from the Merced City Firefighters Association and Merced Police Officers Association; names one filed-but-not-yet-qualified challenger, Lee Robert Boese Jr., who does not appear on the county's later Aug. 25, 2026 certified Qualified Candidate List.
  • shanesmithformercedcouncil4.com (opens in a new tab)Shane Smith's own 2026 campaign site (shanesmithformercedcouncil4.com): self-described platform for reelection to District 4, including support for commercial jet service at Merced Yosemite Regional Airport, affordable-housing and homelessness investment, protecting agricultural land from sprawl, public-safety funding with "common-sense reforms," and parks/trail/sidewalk maintenance; states he was first elected in 2022 after serving as a Merced Unified School District trustee.
  • themercedfocus.org (opens in a new tab)The Merced FOCUS -- "Merced councilmember writes letter responding to 'defamatory' KKK meme shared by council colleague" (Nov. 12, 2025): reports District 6 Councilmember Fue Xiong shared a meme comparing the council's halt of commemorative flag displays to supporting the KKK; District 4 Councilmember Shane Smith, who authored the revised flag policy, called the comparison "defamatory" and "demonstrably false" in a written response, explaining the policy lets the council deny hate-group flags without a First Amendment violation.
  • themercedfocus.org (opens in a new tab)The Merced FOCUS -- "New members of Merced City Council sworn in" (Dec. 9, 2024): covers Darin DuPont (District 1) and Mike Harris (District 3) being sworn in; a photo caption places incumbent Shane Smith at the ceremony, corroborating that he was already a sitting District 4 Councilmember as of December 2024, consistent with his own campaign site's claim of a 2022 first election.
  • mercedcountytimes.com (opens in a new tab)Merced County Times -- "Steed puts public safety at forefront in District 4 race" (Sept. 22, 2022): a 2022-cycle article about a different District 4 candidate, used narrowly here only for its own description of the district's boundaries -- "located east of G Street and extends north from the Bear Creek area all the way to Yosemite Avenue and beyond to include a residential neighborhood near Cruickshank School."
  • campaigndocs.co.merced.ca.us (opens in a new tab)A negative-result local campaign-finance check for all six District 2/4/6 candidates: Merced County's own Campaign Finance eRetrieval portal (hosted at southtechhosting.com) is a client-rendered ASP.NET web form with no GET-queryable search results page this session's tools could drive; direct California Secretary of State Cal-Access filer searches for all six names returned no usable results either. Documents the absence of a reachable financial-disclosure source for these six candidates, not any of their actual finances.

Last updated September 1, 2026.