What's at stake?
Fresno City Council District 6 includes the northernmost stretches of Fresno, mostly east of Highway 41, encompassing the Woodward Park, Copper River, and Hoover High communities.
The race for the northeastern seat on the Fresno City Council didn’t change much Thursday after the county clerk updated vote totals from this week’s general election.
Nick Richardson maintained his surprising-to-many lead, though challenger Roger Bonadkar managed to cut into the margin slightly, though the race remained too close to call.
Richardson had 50.49% of votes while Bonakdar had 49.37%. Just 259 votes separated the candidates, with thousands left to count.
Bonakdar was considered the favorite to win the northeastern seat on the Fresno City Council, pulling in more establishment money and big-ticket endorsements from labor and business groups.
In an interview late Thursday with Fresnoland, Richardson said he’s feeling “cautiously optimistic.”
“We are honored, excited and flattered to be where we are,” said Richardson. “We know that there are a lot of people counting on us to win this race, and we're hoping that these results will allow us to make them proud.”
When asked about the shift from Wednesday evening’s tally of 50.6% and his thoughts on the lower percentage, Richardson is staying focused and not getting into the details.
“In this thing you're either winning or you're not winning, and how the numbers break down, and whatever else, I'm not going to keep myself up at night trying to try to dissect that,” said Richardson.
Bonakdar told Fresnoland that he is “obviously pleased to see things moving in this direction” as he “didn't think we'd even get one [an update] until Friday.” Bonakdar said he’s prepared to wait patiently for the final election results, even if it takes a while.
“I'm grateful for every single vote I got,” said Bonakdar. “I thank everybody who went to the polls to support me. I asked everyone to have some patience for the process. We’re optimistic, but we're patiently waiting for the final result.”
In response to the percentage point shift for Richardson, Bonakdar said, “I don't have a basis to have a feeling. I've never been a candidate before. I don't think either he or I know can say where this is going to land. I don't really know that anybody can.”
Bonakdar, who registered as a Republican after winning the March primary, collected more than $311,000 in campaign contributions to Richardson’s roughly $44,000. He also picked up big endorsements from everyone from Sheriff John Zanoni and the major public safety and city employee unions to current and former city councilmembers like Paul Caprioglio, Mike Karbassi, and Annalisa Perea.
Despite the structural advantages, Bonakdar’s slim early lead evaporated before midnight.
"I'm very grateful for all the support that I earned. Nick sought the same support, and I'm grateful that folks decided to get behind me," Bonakdar said. "I think the reality is a simple one, you have two brand new people to politics, and you had a lot going on up the ticket, and when you have that, you're going to have a tight race. I think that's just the practical reality of things."
Bonakdar’s contributions were largely from business, developer, and labor groups while Richardson received support from a mix of individuals and business leaders.
Tania Keller, president of the Fresno City Employees Association, and Keshawn Keene, the association’s first vice president, have both supported Bonakdar since he first announced his candidacy for the District 6 seat last year.
Keene stated that Bonakdar’s pro-labor stance, particularly his support for contracts and his advocacy for Bitwise employees, has earned their endorsement.
“Bonakdar is an asset to Fresno, even though his politics may not align with all of City Council,” said Keene.
They also mentioned that Richardson did not reach out to the Fresno City Employees Association and emphasized the need for a representative in the District 6 seat who will "make an effort to listen to people’s concerns."
Richardson supporters who spoke with Fresnoland said they were confident their candidate would win.
Karen Turgon, who began helping with Richardson’s campaign after the Fresno County Republican Party withdrew its endorsement of him, said she’s “feeling very positive” and “cautiously optimistic” about the results.
“I feel like Nick is an underdog and didn’t get treated fairly by the Republican Party,” said Turgon. “I weighed both candidates’ policies, and ultimately, I gravitated toward Nick’s campaign.”
Justin St. George, who was Richardson’s opponent in the March primary, said he now fully supports Richardson.
St. George stated that he has done everything he can to help Richardson’s campaign, including managing social media, securing donors, and canvassing.
“Nick just understands what our communities need,” said St. George. “I am confident that he will win. I couldn’t imagine spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a city council race, only for the first returns to be just one point away.”
Richardson praised his campaign supporters while also saying there were still many more votes left to count on Wednesday.
Responding to a question about coming from behind to take the lead, Richardson said it shouldn't be that surprising.
“Knowing how close they were with the very first reporting, I don't think I'm surprised that they flipped,” said Richardson. “And given how hard so many people have worked on this campaign, I don't think I'm surprised that we have the showing that we've had anyway. I'm a little bit surprised that, you know, half a million dollars in a professional staff, and every endorsement in the city doesn't have a little more solid lead right now.”
Richardson said he didn't want to speculate on the reasons so many voters have supported but said he hopes it's because he ran a compassionate and shrewd campaign.
“The reason I hope is because of our person-to- person outreach, the personal touch, the care that we put into the campaign, really resonated with people and gave us a chance up against, you know, a behemoth,” said Richardson. “I think that would be the best if that were really the case, that people felt heard, they felt seen, and that was what we were able to do with this kind of campaign.”
Fresno City Council District 6 includes the northernmost stretches of Fresno, mostly east of Highway 41, encompassing the Woodward Park, Copper River, and Hoover High communities.
The District 6 candidates are pursuing public office as the anti-encampment ordinance enters its third month of enforcement across Fresno, with violators facing criminal penalties such as fines and jail time.
The district also faces a wave of environmental concerns connected to CEMEX, a multinational mining company based in Mexico, who was granted three-year extension on a gravel mining permit in July 2023 by the Fresno County supervisors, to continue operations along the San Joaquin River.
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