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.
Nick Richardson’s come-from-behind-lead more than doubled Tuesday in the race for the northeast Fresno City Council seat against attorney Roger Bonakdar, but the tight contest still remained too close to call.
With just under 50,000 votes still to be counted this week, Richardson has 50.98% of votes while Roger Bonakdar has 48.80%. But Richardson’s razor-thin margin grew from 259 votes last week to nearly 600 on Tuesday after the Fresno County Clerk’s Office released updated — but not final — vote totals.
Bonakdar had been considered the favorite, backed by substantial establishment funding and major endorsements from both labor and business groups.
In an interview late Tuesday with Fresnoland, Richardson said he’s feeling “immensely grateful,” but still “cautiously optimistic.”
“I want to make sure that all the votes are counted,” said Richardson. “But, I’m just feeling immense gratitude for our volunteers and the voters of Fresno, who have been making it clear the kind of leadership that they want to see in Fresno.”
When asked about his growing lead, Richardson said that the “voices of the people are becoming clearer as more votes are counted.”
Bonakdar did not immediately respond for comment.
