What’s at stake?
The first hearing in the case is now scheduled for Aug. 25. The county’s lawsuit notes that a ruling would only be meaningful prior to Sept. 9, the date that Fresno County’s ballot materials go to the printer.
The dust has mostly settled on the judge disqualification spree this week in Fresno County’s lawsuit against the State of California, their own elections clerk and a local transportation tax campaign, and Judge Lisa Gamoian has emerged as the likely arbiter on the critical case that will directly affect voters’ ballots this November.
Gamoian will rule on the lawsuit Fresno County filed on Aug. 12, challenging a controversial move from two state lawmakers aiming to guarantee a spot on the November ballot for the Better Roads, Safe Streets transportation measure while overriding the county supervisors’ move to delay it from appearing before voters until March 2028. The proposed tax would serve as a replacement for Fresno County’s longtime tax, Measure C, which will expire in June 2027.
But who is Gamoian?
The homicide-prosecutor-turned-judge first won her seat on the Fresno County Superior Court bench in a contentious and costly election in 2014 to succeed now-retired Judge Robert Oliver, according to Fresno Bee archives.
The majority of Gamoian’s more than $600,000 war chest in that race came from her uncle, developer Ed Kashian. As of January 2026, Gamoian is also listed as a board officer with Lance-Kashian & Company, her uncle’s development company, according to a filing with the California Secretary of State.
Kashian has allies on both sides of the lawsuit that pits county supervisors against the Better Roads campaign, the latter of which has received backing from a majority of Fresno County mayors.
Kashian and his business entities have contributed to multiple supervisors that opposed the state’s intervention on Better Roads, including Board Chair Garry Bredefeld and Buddy Mendes.
The developer’s company has also engaged as a consultant former Fresno County Supervisor Henry Perea, according to Perea’s 2025 Form 700. Earlier this month, Perea traveled to Sacramento to speak out against AB 1923, the bill Gov. Gavin Newsom later signed that forced the placement of Better Roads on the November ballot. Perea also backed a rival Measure C replacement plan that didn’t ultimately turn in signatures to the county clerk.
But Kashian has also publicly backed Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer’s signature initiatives like SEDA — and Dyer is not only a Better Roads backer but also one of the defending parties named in the lawsuit.
The parties will make their first appearance before Gamoian at a hearing scheduled for Aug. 25 at 3:30 p.m., according to court documents.
The case is on an additional time crunch, however, as the plaintiffs noted in their Aug. 12 petition. A ruling will only be meaningful to the county if it’s handed down before Sept. 9, the day that ballot materials go to the printer.
Gamoian’s selection also comes after two previous judges were disqualified from the case.
Both sides filed a “peremptory challenge” — a legal maneuver under California civil procedure code that essentially allows parties to disqualify a judge from a case without having to prove bias.
Typically, each side gets one challenge per case. Once peremptory challenges are exhausted, attorneys seeking to disqualify another judge would have to demonstrate cause.
Two days after the county’s case was first filed in Fresno County Superior Court, Attorney General Rob Bonta, representing the State of California, filed to disqualify Judge Robert Whalen, the first judge assigned.
This is the second time in recent years that Bonta has gotten Whalen disqualified from a case. The first time was in a lawsuit over Fresno County’s Measure A.
Whalen, a former Clovis City Councilmember, served on the council for about 20 years before winning a judicial seat in Fresno County Superior Court in 2023.
That meant he served alongside former Clovis councilmember Nathan Magsig, now a Fresno County supervisor who has also voiced frustration with the state’s intervention over Better Roads. His term also overlapped with current Clovis City Councilmember Lynne Ashbeck, another backer of Better Roads who was named in the lawsuit among the defending parties.
Then on Aug. 18, the plaintiffs filed to disqualify the second judge assigned to the case, Virna Santos.
Before becoming a judge, Santos represented former Fresno City Councilmember Esmeralda Soria, as well as current councilmembers Miguel Arias, Tyler Maxwell and Nelson Esparza, in a Brown Act lawsuit, The Fresno Bee reported.
Soria is one of the co-authors of AB 1923. Arias, Maxwell and Esparza all participated in a unanimous council vote in June in support of Better Roads.
Fresnoland reached out to Bredefeld, chair of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors, for comment on the new judicial assignment.
The California Attorney General’s Office and Better Roads campaign each declined to comment for this story.
