What's at stake?
Challenges over the elections of the county's top two cops puts Fresno voters at the heart of an obscure - but highly partisan - fight.
Fresno County voters in March will weigh in on an obscure new state law that sparked a local partisan clash between county conservatives and city liberals.
In 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom quietly signed into law AB 759 which required most – but not all – of the state’s 58 counties to conduct law enforcement elections during the presidential election cycle. Exceptions were made for charter counties that — as of Jan. 1, 2021 — specifically designated those races for a different election cycle.
Fresno County’s charter doesn’t specify when the sheriff and district attorney elections will take place. However, voters could change that on March 5 by approving Fresno County’s Measure A.
To move Fresno County’s top cops onto that election rotation, Sheriff John Zanoni and District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp are now serving six-year terms, instead of the typical four-year stints.
The temporary term-limit extensions have been a sticking point for some critics, particularly Zanoni and Smittcamp, who questioned the legitimacy of the extensions, despite benefiting from them.
Debate around the little-known law has fallen mostly around the typical partisan lines.
Democrats argue that greater voter participation should be encouraged for critical law enforcement races, particularly in communities with a history of over-policing.
Republicans slam the law as a cynical attempt to manipulate law enforcement elections that Democrats frequently struggle to win.
In October, amid the back-and-forth between city and county officials, Fresno County Counsel Daniel Cederborg issued a public statement that, in part, criticized the motives behind AB 759.
Despite adopting the law, the California Legislature didn’t appear entirely confident it had the authority to dictate election cycles in the state’s 14 charter counties.
“It is clear that certain state-wide political interests, including those aligned with the Attorney General, favor having those two local officials elected in the Presidential election cycle,” Cederborg wrote. “Very good arguments, however, support keeping the election of local officials in the same cycle as the Governor.”
Critics have also raised state constitutional questions over the new law that could launch legal battles.
An April 2021 analysis from the Assembly’s elections committee concluded it was “unclear whether the provisions of this bill can be made applicable to charter counties.”
“It could be argued that this bill, by prescribing the election at which county officers must be elected, conflicts with a charter county’s authority to provide for the terms of elected county officers,” the elections committee analysis noted.
What does a ‘yes’ vote mean on Fresno County’s Measure A?
A ‘yes’ vote approves amending Section 15 of the Fresno County charter to require the elections for district attorney and sheriff be conducted on the California gubernatorial cycle. If approved, Fresno County’s top cops would be eligible for re-election in 2026.
What does a ‘no’ vote mean on Fresno County’s Measure A?
A ‘no’ vote opposes amending the Fresno County charter to specify the county law enforcement election cycles. If rejected by voters, the county’s next law enforcement elections would be held in 2028.
What are the arguments in support of Measure A?
Measure A generally is supported by those who opposed AB 759.
Led by Fresno County Supervisor Steve Brandau, supporters of Measure A say California’s left-winged legislature overstepped its authority by trying to dictate charter county elections.
“My argument is that charter counties, among other powers, have the authority to determine the schedule of these officers,” Brandau said in a statement to Fresnoland. “We are fighting for our local autonomy.
“Our charter as written needs clarification for these elections,” Brandau acknowledged, “but that is because we weren’t anticipating the state coming along and usurping our local rights.”
In August, the Fresno County Board Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution Brandau put forth to get the issue on the upcoming March ballot.
The California Sheriff’s Association also opposed AB 759.
Smittcamp, Fresno County’s top prosecutor since 2015, also called AB 759 “potentially unconstitutional,” but focused her criticism on the temporary term-limit extensions, which she said were implemented without voter approval. Even the candidates didn’t know they’d be serving a six-year term.
“Voters deserve to be given full transparency on issues they are voting on, whether that be a ballot measure or a political candidate,” Smittcamp said in a statement to Fresnoland. “The Governor signing this law after voters cast their ballot, does not display an interest that is for the betterment of the State, but in turn what fits his political narrative.”
Zanoni, who was elected Fresno County sheriff in 2022, also took aim at the term extensions.
“If the legislature and governor have the authority to change county voting cycles,” Zanoni said, “then, for Sheriff and District Attorney, it should have been done prior to the 2022 election.”
The sheriff and district attorney did not address questions regarding the key claim made by AB 759 supporters – that public safety campaigns demand the greatest voter turnout possible – but Brandau did.
He called the turnout argument “fallacious.”
“Yes, more people vote in the presidential cycle, but the races down ballot get swallowed up in the national theater of the presidential election,” Brandau argued. “Local candidates and local issues struggle to get airtime to discuss local issues in presidential years.”
Brandau also slammed the idea as “dismissive of our voters.”
“The Legislature is basically saying voters are too lazy to trust these races to off-cycles,” said Brandau, who also is seeking re-election on the March ballot. “We should not be discouraging voting in any election cycle.”
He also noted other critical races – including the California governor’s election – are not held in the presidential cycle. He suggested beefing up voter outreach efforts in off-cycle years, instead of selectively reshuffling law enforcement races.
“Why isn’t the state moving to encourage voter turnout in these non-presidential years?”
What are the arguments against Measure A?
Measure A generally is opposed by those who supported AB 759.
Arguments for moving law enforcement races to the presidential cycle essentially boil down to “more voters equals good.”
The law’s passage came with little fanfare in late 2022, earning a single sentence of acknowledgement from the governor’s office and a four-sentence statement from the bill’s author, Sacramento Democrat Kevin McCarty.
In August, shortly after county supervisors approved Brandau’s resolution, Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias slammed the move as a “power grab” by the conservative-leaning Board of Supervisors.
“With this hastily action the Board of Supervisors is asking voters to violate State law and taxpayers to pick up the legal bills it would generate,” Arias told Fresnoland in August. “Those public resources could be better spent on housing and mental health services to thousands of homeless residents.”
Arias, a prominent Fresno Democratic Party firebrand, also is running for the County Board of Supervisors, looking to unseat incumbent Sal Quintero in a four-way race with Fresno City Councilmember Luis Chavez and EJ Hinojosa, a teacher.
Arias also criticized the supervisors for putting the issue on the March ballot as primary elections typically see the lowest voter turnout among all election cycles.
“If they wanted to have a robust debate about this issue,” Arias said in August, “they’d put it on (the general election) ballot when the vast majority of Fresno voters are most engaged.”
In October, Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz sent a letter on behalf of the City Council to California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Janz asked Bonta’s office to intervene and potentially block the supervisors from taking the issue to the voters.
“Fresno County District Attorney and Sheriff elections have a profound impact on public safety; a pivotal issue for the City of Fresno and its residents,” Janz wrote. “These elections must occur, in accordance with the law, when voter participation is at its peak.”
It’s unclear what action, if any, the Attorney General’s Office has taken. Bonta’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
AB 759 was supported by the League of Women Voters of California.
In a letter to the California governor in the fall of 2022, the League also applauded the effort as a win for voters.
“Democracy is strongest when our representatives are chosen at elections with the highest rates and broadest diversity of voter turnout,” League President Carol Moon Goldberg wrote in 2022. “Furthermore, midterm electorates include fewer people from underrepresented populations – including youth, Black, Latinx, and Asian American people than do presidential electorates.”
Does greater voter turnout benefit one party more than the other?
The idea that greater voter turnout typically benefits the Democratic Party has been part of American political culture for decades.
It’s also been debated and disputed for years.
However, for nearly 20 years at least, Fresno County generally has fit that pattern.
General election turnout has always been highest in Fresno during general presidential elections and those Fresno voters handed victories to Democratic candidates.
Fresno County went for Barack Obama over John McCain in 2008 with 72% turnout.
Obama claimed a second victory in Fresno in 2012, defeating Mitt Romney with about 64% turnout.
Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump in Fresno County in 2016 with 67% turnout.
And Joe Biden defeated Trump in 2020 when voter turnout reached a record-breaking 74.65%.
The last time Fresno County went for a Republican presidential candidate was in 2004 when George W. Bush defeated John Kerry to win re-election. Bush captured Fresno County with about 57% of the vote in a race that saw about 71% turnout.
Additionally, Fresno County turnout sags during general gubernatorial elections, and even successful Democrats, like Newsom, have struggled.
Newsom cruised to victory in 2018, coasted in his re-election bid in 2022, and brushed off a midterm recall challenge in between. But in all three statewide victories, Newsom lost Fresno County.
Turnout in those races reached as high as 56% in 2018 and as low as 44% in 2022.
Fresno County voters typically show the least interest in presidential primary elections – like the one featuring Measure A on March 5.
For the last two decades, primary turnout percentages in Fresno County have typically hovered in the high 20s and low 30s, reaching as high as 43% in 2004 and sinking as low as 26% in 2014.
Leave a comment