What’s at stake?
In June, a Republican-appointed judge in Fresno agreed with the justice department and said the state law “preempted” the county charter amendment, throwing out Fresno’s election results and resetting the law enforcement races to the presidential cycle.
The nakedly political fight over law enforcement elections in Fresno County isn’t quite over and the clock is ticking for local Republicans to score a win in court.
In June, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors agreed to continue the legal battle over the election cycles of the sheriff and district attorney. The move to take the fight to the state appeals court came after a Fresno judge sided with the state justice department and tossed out voter-backed changes to local law enforcement elections.
The wonky fight between state Democrats and Fresno-area Republicans sparked in 2022 when the governor quietly signed AB 759, a Democrat-sponsored law that required most California counties to conduct the law enforcement elections on the presidential election cycle. Democrats argued that law enforcement elections should generally be conducted when voter turnout is highest, which is always during the presidential cycle.
Republicans pushed back, calling the move a thinly-disguised effort to game election advantages in races that Democrats frequently struggle to win. The Fresno County Board of Supervisors in 2024 forced the issue onto the ballot and about 55% of Fresno voters said they wanted to elect the DA and sheriff on the gubernatorial cycle.
But in June a Republican-appointed judge in Fresno agreed with the justice department and said the state law “preempted” the county charter amendment, throwing out Fresno’s election results and resetting the law enforcement races to the presidential cycle.
Now, Fresno County is asking California’s Fifth District Court of Appeal to reverse that ruling and quickly, too. Should the court rule in Fresno County’s favor, candidates seeking to run for sheriff or district attorney in the summer of 2026 would need to begin campaign-related activities around Dec. 11, lawyers for the county argued in court filings.
Arguments in the case essentially boil down to whether the state constitution allows charter counties like Fresno to set the timing of law enforcement election cycles.
Fresno County says “yes” and California says “no.”
In its appeals court filing, Fresno County attorneys argue that the trial court judge got it wrong, applying the wrong legal standards for the wrong reasons.
It wasn’t immediately clear when or if the appeals court would weigh in. If the lower-court ruling from June stands, elections for the Fresno County sheriff and district attorney would not return to the ballot until 2028.
