Mike Murphy, a Republican, is running for California’s 27th Assembly District in the November 2026 general election, an open seat left by Esmeralda Soria’s run for State Senate. The first in his family to graduate college, he earned a law degree from Georgetown and built a career as a business and employment attorney, including representing Silicon Valley technology companies before returning to Merced to represent small businesses. He served on the Merced City Council starting in 2011 and as Mayor of Merced from 2016 to 2020, during which he says the city achieved a budget surplus, expanded public safety and emergency response, improved clean drinking water access, and advanced the “Project 2020” partnership with UC Merced to grow the campus toward 10,000 students.
After leaving office, Murphy chaired a committee that placed a ballot measure protecting police and fire funding before Merced voters, which passed with more than 66% support, and has since worked as a senior fellow with the American Leadership Forum. He advanced from the June 2026 primary alongside Democrat Brian Pacheco, a current Fresno County Supervisor, and is campaigning as an “independent-minded Republican” focused on affordability, housing, health care, education, expanded public safety, and protecting agricultural water supplies. He has been endorsed by the Merced County Sheriff and District Attorney, the Assembly Republican Leader, and State Senator Shannon Grove.
