What's at stake:
The gap between city councilmember Luis Chavez and incumbent Sal Quintero increased in the Fresno County District 3 Supervisor race, according to the latest batch of election results Tuesday.
Fresno city councilmember Luis Chavez extended his lead against incumbent Sal Quintero on Tuesday in the Fresno County District 3 Supervisor race.
According to the latest batch of election results released late Tuesday, Chavez had 55.7% of votes tallied so far, which put him 3,359 votes ahead of Quintero.
Fresno County election officials still need to count about 49,000 remaining ballots and the next update is expected Friday.
Chavez was not immediately available for comment Tuesday.
Quintero said Tuesday evening that he was not conceding the race.
“No comment on the numbers,” Quintero told Fresnoland. “I’m proud of my campaign, I’m proud of the folks that supported us and I’m proud of the work that I've done.”
Chavez declared victory on election night and told Fresnoland last week that he was confident that he’d remain ahead of Quintero as remaining ballots get tallied.
Chavez’s lead over Quintero has only grown since the polls closed a week ago.
In the event of Chavez moving to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors, his city council seat would be vacated. To replace him, the Fresno City Council would need to pass a resolution declaring a vacancy and call for a special election.
Since Chavez was in the second year of his current term, and not his last year, the Fresno City Council cannot appoint a replacement for him, Fresno City Clerk Todd Stermer said at the Nov. 7 City Council meeting.
The City Council’s southeast district would go without a representative on the council until at least May 2025, Stermer added.
The election cannot take place sooner than 90 days after the City Council’s resolution. If no candidate vying for Chavez’s old seat gets more than 50% of votes, the election would head to a runoff between the two candidates with the most votes.
