Early returns from Tuesday's Modesto Irrigation District board election showed incumbent Robert Frobose holding a commanding lead over challenger Dominic Giorgi in Division 3, while Mike Moradian and incumbent John Boer IV led their own races after polls closed at 8 p.m. But with so few ballots counted, none of the three contests for seats on the board overseeing farm water and electricity for hundreds of thousands of customers was anywhere near settled.
Frobose Holds Early Edge Over Rodeo Clown Challenger
In the earliest returns, Frobose, who serves as MID board chairman, had 63.1% of the expected Division 3 vote to Giorgi's 36.9%, according to the Modesto Bee. Frobose said he anticipated the result would land about where it did, per the same report. Giorgi, who works for a well-drilling business and is also a part-time professional rodeo clown, had leaned on financial backing from outside the district: the Bee previously reported he received $32,000 in campaign contributions from east side almond grower Tyler Angle and related companies, along with embattled MID board member Larry Byrd.
That endorsement money came with controversy of its own. The IBEW 1245 union rescinded its endorsement of Giorgi, saying his campaign had used misinformation in promising lower MID rates for customers, the Bee reported.
Byrd Water-Use Allegations Still Loom Over the District
Byrd's own standing with the district has been under scrutiny. Frobose pressed in 2025 for investigations into allegations that Byrd took district water to irrigate trees on his ranch near La Grange, allegations Byrd has denied, according to the Bee's reporting. An independent investigation by engineering firm 4Creeks found that trees on 96 acres owned by Byrd and his business partners needed more water from 2021 to 2024 than wells could have supplied, but as SJV Water reported, the report could not definitively prove that Byrd used MID water for the out-of-district trees. The MID board later voted 2-2 on Dec. 16 on whether to hire an attorney to continue investigating the claims, and the motion failed, per SJV Water's account.
Moradian Leads Division 2 as Censured Incumbent Trails
In Division 2, Mike Moradian led the early tally with 44.6%, ahead of incumbent Janice Keating at 29.2% and John Van Oostende at 26.2%, the Modesto Bee reported. Moradian cautioned against reading too much into the numbers, saying it was too early to declare a winner because only 22% of the count was in. He said campaign discussions had centered on restoring decorum at MID meetings and forging better relationships with other local agencies, adding that he had reached out to three other water districts that MID works closely with.
Keating was elected to the board in 2022, but MID directors voted to censure her in August 2025 over allegations she berated and threw a clipboard at a staff member, among other incidents involving a staff member. District meeting records show the board adopted Resolution 2025-19 at its Aug. 12, 2025, meeting, formally reprimanding Keating for Code of Conduct and Workplace Violence Policy violations. According to the Modesto Irrigation District meeting record, the resolution imposed additional training, a one-year restriction on official conference travel, a written apology, and removal from committee assignments.
Boer Leads Division 4, and Candidates Clash Over Data Centers
In Division 4, incumbent John Boer IV appeared well ahead in the early count with 67.3%, compared with 32.7% for Brad Johnson, per the Bee's reporting. All seven candidates running for the three open seats met in a debate moderated by The Modesto Focus ahead of the election, where the Division 3 matchup between Frobose and Giorgi was discussed alongside broader questions about board dysfunction and groundwater policy.
Groundwater emerged as a flashpoint at that debate. Moradian proposed limiting groundwater pumping in the nondistrict east by roughly 15% from November through January under an existing district plan, The Modesto Focus reported. Keating, for her part, argued that data centers would use 15 times as much water as anyone in the nondistrict east was currently using, and proposed charging data centers three times the rate charged to other industrial customers for their additional energy use, according to the outlet's debate coverage.
The stakes extend beyond this single election cycle. Groundwater management rules approved by MID, the county and other entities in the Modesto groundwater subbasin are set to take effect in 2027, the Bee has reported. The district has also raised electric rates in recent years, with increases of 7.5% for 2024 and 5.5% for 2025 approved in November 2023, following a 3.5% increase approved in November 2022 — rate hikes that have fed into the broader debate over how the board manages both water and power for its customers.
