Merced County · Statewide General Election
County Superintendent of Schools — Merced County
Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.
This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.
On the ballot
- Richard Lopez
- Ana Boyenga
Nonpartisan head of the county office of education.
Richard Lopez led the June 2 primary with 31.3% and Ana Boyenga took 29.5%, a gap of 1.8 points; a third candidate finished close behind and is off the ballot. Neither cleared a majority, so the two meet again on November 3. This is a nonpartisan countywide office.
The county superintendent runs the Merced County Office of Education. That office does not run your local school district — it oversees district budgets and can intervene when one is in financial trouble, runs county-wide programs including special education and juvenile court schools, and provides services individual districts are too small to run alone. It is one of the most consequential education jobs most voters have never heard of.
This is one of the closest contests on the county part of this ballot, between two candidates who both come from inside the county's school system — one a district superintendent, the other an assistant superintendent. There is no incumbent. Ask what you want from the office's two real powers: fiscal oversight of districts, and the county-run programs serving students no single district can serve alone.
Richard Lopez
Nonpartisan, and per local coverage the superintendent of the Merced River school district. He led the June primary with 31.3%, less than two points ahead. Neither candidate reported campaign finance to the state database we track.
Strengths
Experience running a school district, which is the closest analogue to the fiscal-oversight side of the county job.
Trade-offs
He led with 31.3%, meaning roughly seven in ten June voters chose someone else; and no campaign-finance data is available for comparison.
Keep in mind
A 1.8-point margin means June tells you almost nothing about November.
Ana Boyenga
Nonpartisan, and per local coverage an assistant superintendent. She advanced with 29.5% of the June vote, 1.8 points behind. Neither candidate reported campaign finance to the state database we track.
Strengths
Administrative experience inside a county education office, which is the job on offer rather than an analogue to it.
Trade-offs
She finished second, and no campaign-finance data is available for comparison.
Keep in mind
Coverage of this race is thin — it records the result and each candidate's current role, not their plans for the county office.
June 2 primary — how they advanced
Source review: Strong (86/100) · 2 cited sources
Official records anchor this contest, with a narrow source base.
- results.enr.clarityelections.com (opens in a new tab)Merced County elections office — certified June 2, 2026 primary results
- ballotpedia.org (opens in a new tab)Ballotpedia — June 2026 California primary
Last updated July 30, 2026.