What's at stake:
With at least seven local races and only two incumbents in the mix, this election year will prove consequential to the makeup of Fresno's city and county governments.
Fresno has a lot on the line this week.
With at least seven local races, it’s one of the busier election years for the greater Fresno region — certainly more crowded than in 2024.
That’s on top of a handful of state assembly and senate races, along with the California governor’s race — all enough to fill up a two-card ballot for Fresno County voters.
What’s at stake includes the majority of the Fresno City Council. Four seats — a voting minimum, also known as a quorum — are up for grabs. That could centrally alter the council’s makeup and policy direction for the next several years, especially with only one incumbent in the mix.
Geographically speaking, almost the entire lower half of the City of Fresno will decide who should represent them. That includes voters in central, southwest and southeast Fresno, the Tower District and residents all the way from west of Highway 99 to the other side of town south of the airport.
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors also has two key seats up for grabs with no incumbents running for reelection. Residents in northwest and southwest Fresno County, as well as their rural cities and communities, will get to decide which new faces should join the five-member board of supervisors.
For most of the local races, it’s unlikely they’ll all be decided today.
A candidate would need to secure more than 50% of all votes in order to win a seat outright. But that could prove challenging when some races have anywhere between three and seven candidates.
If a race doesn’t have an outright winner, the two candidates with the most votes will move on to a runoff in November.
With federal challenges to voting by mail, Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters James Kus has recommended voters turn in their ballots to drop box sites or voting centers across the county. Locations for both are available on the Fresno County website.
The polls close today at 8 p.m. and Fresnoland will update this election results page throughout the night once they’re available.
