Several races remain razor thin as Fresno County processes ballots. See latest updates
Several election outcomes were hanging in the balance Wednesday, including a Fresno City Council seat, as the county continued to process votes.
Voter turnout for the Nov. 5 general election in Fresno County was far lighter than the last presidential election in 2020, with about 76,000 fewer voters casting ballots.
More than 370,000 people voted in the 2020 presidential election in Fresno County. That amounted to almost 75% of registered voters. By contrast, Tuesday's election attracted 304,000, or a turnout of about 59.5%.
That includes an estimated 98,000 ballots that have yet to be counted across Fresno County — an accumulation of vote-by-mail ballots turned in by voters on Election Day and drop boxes, as well as about 4,000 conditional and provisional ballots. It does not include any vote-by-mail ballots sent through the U.S. Postal Service and postmarked by Tuesday; those will be accepted through Nov. 12.
The volume of uncounted ballots means that there are a number of close contests in Fresno County. Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters James Kus said he expects his office to release its next report of vote totals by 5 p.m. Thursday.
Among those undecided races are the District 6 race to represent northeast Fresno on the Fresno City Council, a $400 million bond measure for the Clovis Unified School District, and a whopping $698 million bond measure for the State Center Community College District.
It's not known how many of the uncounted ballots are from any particular city or district, but it is likely that the bulk of the votes are from the Fresno/Clovis metro areas.
Fresno City Council
By the time workers at the Fresno County Elections Division finished counting votes in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, more than 21,000 votes had been tallied in the Fresno City Council District 6 contest between Nick Richardson and Roger Bonakdar. The pair are separated by only 319 votes after all 15 precincts in the district were accounted for.
Bonakdar held a slim lead in the earliest returns reported just after 8 p.m. Tuesday, but in three additional updates through 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, Richardson's share of the votes crept higher. The latest totals put Richardson, a businessman and Marine Corps Reserve officer, at 10,662 votes or 50.65%; Bonakdar, a local attorney, had 10,343 votes or 49.13%.
"It's only 319 votes, but the results got better for us as the night went on," Richardson told The Bee early Wednesday morning. "In the first results, we were behind, and then in the second round we were closer. We pulled ahead in the next round, and at the end of the night we were a little further ahead."
Clovis Unified Measure A
Measure A, a $400 million bond measure, is sitting about 25 votes under the required 55% majority that it needs to pass. The money is planned to modernize school facilities and improve campus safety and technology. Clovis Unified leaders said they needed to pass the bond to finish construction of the new Clovis South High School
But as of Wednesday morning, Measure A had garnered 365,962 "yes" votes or 54.96%, compared to 30,298 "no votes, 45.04%. Not counting any of the untabulated ballots that may come from within the Clovis Unified district, fewer than half of the district's approximately 149,000 registered voters cast ballots in the contest.
"We remain hopeful that late voting returns will push us over the 55% needed for Measure A's success because it is critical for our community's future," Clovis Unified Superintendent Corrine Folmer said in a statement Tuesday night.
State Center Community College District Measure Q
Also uncertain is the fate of Measure Q, a proposed $698 million bond measure to upgrade facilities at the State Center Community College District's campuses, and improve education programs for nursing, firefighting, police officers, agriculture, manufacturing and vocational training. The district includes Fresno City College and its new West Fresno center, Reedley College, Clovis Community College, Madera Community College and a center in Oakhurst, and covers parts of Fresno, Madera, Kings and Tulare counties.
Wednesday morning's unofficial results across the four counties show Measure Q with 119,677 "yes" votes, or 53.5%. But that's less than the 55% majority needed to pass. So far, 104,121 voters said no to the measure.
Smaller Fresno County cities
Several cities across Fresno County have city council races in which a mere handful of votes are separating winners from losers.
Fowler City Council: In at large voting, three incumbents are leading for three available seats as of Wednesday morning: Juan Mejia, Karnig Ronald Kazarian and Daniel Parra. But the candidate currently in fourth place, Patric Jones, lags Parra by just 16 votes out of more than 4,050 votes cast and counted so far.
Vote tallies were 760 for Mejia, 653 for Kazarian, 647 for Parra and 631 for Jones. Trailing those four are Mark Rodriquez with 481, Luis F. Damian with 473, and C. Teresa Vega de Cabrera, 401 votes.
Mendota City Council: Six candidates are vying for two at-large seats, with both incumbents running outside the top two on Wednesday.
Challengers Jesus "Jesse" Mendoza led the field with 378 votes, followed by Jose Lupe Gallardo with 326. They're followed by the two incumbent council members, Jose Alonzo with 303 votes and Oscar Rosales with 299 votes. Lagging the field are Moses Macias at 166 votes and Christian Cruz with 103 votes.
One short-term council seat in Mendota is also relatively close. Incumbent Joseph Riofrio leads with 350 votes, ahead of Juan G. Ledesma at 324 votes and Veronica Gill with 237 votes.
Parlier City Council: In both the District 1 and District 3 seats, only a few votes separates the first and second place candidates.
In District 1, incumbent Sabrina Rodriguez holds a two-vote advantage over Juan M. Montano, 142 votes to 140. A third candidate, Fernando Banuelos, has 121 votes as of Wednesday morning.
In District 3, three candidates are separated by only three votes. Challenger Alfred Gonzales has 93 votes, one ahead of fellow challenger Claudia Vera at 92 votes. The incumbent council member, Cathryn "Kathy" Solorio, has 90 votes. A fourth candidate, Michelle H. Lopez, trails with 64 votes.
In the city of San Joaquin, there's a dead heat for the third of three available at-large seats. Challenger Rosa Maria Ramirez is the top vote-getter so far with 198 votes, followed by incumbent Abel Lua at 144 votes.
Tied for the third seat at 115 votes apiece are incumbents Julia Hernandez and Maria Cristina Covarrubia. A fifth candidate, Amarpreet "Ruby" Dhaliwal, trails with 101 votes.
