Overview:
Brandon Vang – a Sanger Unified trustee – held onto 50.14% of the vote as of Thursday, followed by Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas – a Fresno Unified trustee and Westlands Water District deputy general manager of external affairs – at about 34.97%.
Brandon Vang clung to over 50% of the vote in the Fresno City Council District 5 special election per an updated tally from the Fresno County Clerk’s Office late Thursday – but his margin shrank slightly, increasing the possibility of a July runoff with his second-place opponent Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas.
Vang – a Sanger Unified trustee – held onto 50.14% of the vote as of Thursday, followed by Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas – a Fresno Unified trustee and Westlands Water District deputy general manager of external affairs – at about 34.97%. That was a slight dip from his margin as of Tuesday night, which sat at 50.5%. Jonasson Rosas’ margin meanwhile grew slightly from 34.56% Tuesday.
Vang can evade a runoff if he carries over 50% of the vote. But with the Clerk’s Office estimating roughly 170 votes left to be counted – including 140 ballots requiring a signature “cure” – an outright victory isn’t guaranteed and, with turnout at just under 13%, the race could be decided by a handful of votes.
Pedro Ramirez, Vang’s campaign manager, said in an interview Thursday the campaign isn’t ready to declare victory yet but still found it “encouraging that (Vang) is outperforming all the other candidates.”
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” he said.
Jonasson Rosas shared a similar sentiment, adding that it was too soon to say whether her campaign would request a recount.
“Every vote should be counted,” she said, “and then our campaign will determine next steps. There’s a lot of next steps, potentially.”
The next update for the Fresno City Council District 5 special election will come next Wednesday, March 26 by 5 p.m.
A ‘very nontraditional campaign’
Vang’s teasing of an outright victory in the election returns so far have come as a surprise to some.
His primary opponent, Jonasson Rosas, received backing from major political players in Fresno, including most of the sitting Fresno City Council, city workers unions including the police and fire, and business groups like the Fresno Chamber of Commerce.
That institutional support typically translates to not only financial resources but also volunteers that can help drive voter turnout – which needs all the support it can get during a special election especially, said Thomas Holyoke, a political science professor at Fresno State.
“It is a little surprising that Vang seems to have done so well lacking some of the structural support,” he said in an interview Wednesday.
“Which suggests to me, then, that he probably did a very good job with what we loosely call retail politics,” he added, “which is basically getting out there, talking to people, probably knocking on a lot of doors and basically introducing himself to a lot of people.”
Ramirez, Vang’s campaign manager, said in an interview Wednesday part of their success came from the “very nontraditional campaign” they ran. That included efforts to engage not just “high-propensity voters” who always participate in elections, but casting an even wider net.
“We not only did that, we went after people that didn’t (typically vote) – particularly with minority groups like the Hmong community and Punjabi community,” he said. “Latinos that hadn’t voted in the past for whatever reason. We targeted everybody.”
Fresno voters tired of ‘establishment’ picks?
The unofficial special election results may not come as much of a surprise to Fresno voters who think back to the November election, when other establishment-backed candidates appeared to underperform.
In last year’s Fresno City Council District 6 election, U.S. Marine Corps reserve officer Nick Richardson defeated attorney Roger Bonakdar – despite Bonakdar’s significantly larger funding base and slew of endorsements from local elected officials and the city’s police and fire unions.
In other local elections last fall, including Fresno Unified trustee races, several union-backed candidates lost, even though some of those unions poured thousands into candidates’ campaigns.
The similar outcome between some of last year’s races and this month’s special election’s initial returns could signal a “certain degree of disgust amongst voters for traditional political candidates,” Holyoke said, “and the organizations behind them.”
It could also suggest “a desire to support outsiders” among Fresno voters, he added, “as a way to promote some kind of change with the status quo.”
Ramirez acknowledged similarities between the D6 outcomes and the initial D5 election results, saying Wednesday that the campaign heard from voters who didn’t want someone “handpicked for them.”
“We really really zeroed in on that we are running a very strong and independent campaign,” he said. “That resonated with Republicans, with Democrats, with independent voters.”
Richardson declined to comment on the comparison, saying he didn’t want to weigh in on initial election results that were as yet uncertified.
A tale of two campaigns – by the numbers
Vang and Jonasson Rosas were neck-and-neck in terms of campaign contributions as of last-minute filings in the final days leading up to Tuesday’s Fresno City Council District 5 special election.
Vang had amassed just under $122,000 in total contributions, while Jonasson Rosas hovered just over $120,000.
But beside that, the candidates’ 2025 campaign finance filings tell two different stories.
Jonasson Rosas received thousands of dollars from over a dozen business and labor PACs.
Four of her top donations reported in 2025 were a $10,900 contribution from the Fresno Police Officers Association, $10,000 from the Fresno City Firefighters IAFF Local 753 PAC, $5,900 from Councilmember Tyler Maxwell’s 2024 committee and $5,900 from the California Real Estate Political Action Committee, affiliated with the California Association of Realtors.
Vang’s campaign, on the other hand, was largely funded by individuals. The majority of contributions to his campaign were in amounts less than $1,000. Many donations came from supporters in the Hmong community in Fresno and even other states like Minnesota and Oklahoma as well as Vang’s extended family, Ramirez confirmed.
Low turnout no surprise
The low turnout at Tuesday’s special election was a lot less surprising to experts than the actual results.
As of an updated count Thursday, turnout sat at just under 13%.
Other special elections in recent years have seen similar turnout, including an April 2022 special election to replace the late Fresno Unified Trustee Carol Mills after she died in office. Turnout for that race was just over 14%.
“I don’t think the electorate was really ready to have another election” after November’s presidential race, Holyoke said, “especially one that was, again, marred with what appears to be some dirty politics.”
The unofficial D5 election results come over a week after Vang denied allegations of statutory rape that surfaced in a controversial election mailer.
Vang and his family adamantly denied any wrongdoing while also acknowledging that he was 20 when his first child was born in 1993 and Vang’s now-wife of three decades was 15 years old.
His campaign also filed a complaint with the Fresno City Attorney’s Office against Fresno Future Forward, the dark money PAC that paid for the mailer and failed to register the expense with the Fresno City Clerk in violation of state and local campaign finance laws.
The complaint resulted in a $1,000 fine from City Attorney Andrew Janz, though the Vang campaign expressed dissatisfaction with the thoroughness of Janz’s investigation. Ramirez told Fresnoland prior to the election that the campaign hoped the investigation would continue in order to unmask who funded the PAC.
Ramirez said Thursday that if Vang wins, he’ll be revisiting the issue with Janz and advocating for his office to reveal the donors that contributed to Fresno Future Forward.
“When Brandon gets in, that is going to be an ask of the city attorney,” he said.
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