Naindeep Singh came from behind on Election Night to hold a razor-thin 16-vote lead over Rob Fuentes in the District 1 Fresno City Council race.
Ariana Martinez Lott carried a big lead late into Election Night in her race against Nav Gurm in the District 7 Fresno City Council race.
Singh was ahead of Fuentes 50.09% to 49.91% ; Martinez Lott was outpacing Nav Gurm in District 7, 56.68% to 43.32% ; and Arambula led Thomas in the District 3 race, 54.20% to 45.80%.
Martinez Lott greeted a packed-to-the-brim crowd of over 100 supporters at Los Panchos downtown on Tuesday night.
“Mujeres get the job done,” she exclaimed, flanked by several Latine women prominent in the Fresno community.
“Because of you all, we were able to go up against politics as usual, and go head to head, money against heart. Politics against the love of people. Our tax dollars are being used for people’s political careers so they can move up the ladder. We are done with that,” she told the room.
She thanked Councilmember Brandon Vang, the only elected official from the City of Fresno seemingly in the room, along with Assemblymember Arambula, who also is leading his own race to represent District 3 on the Fresno City Council.
Arambula cheered his own early lead over Thomas, but told the crowd how important it was that Singh take the lead in his race, too.
Her son then grabbed the mic, and said, “Sí se puede!”
The rest of the crowd followed him.
On the hotly-contested Measure S transportation tax, early returns showed more people opposed to the tax renewal than in support, with 53.38% oppose.
A signature-led tax effort, Measure S only needs a simple majority to pass.
In the Fresno County Board of Supervisors race, Kerman Mayor Maria Pacheco took a big lead over Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi, 57.74% to 42.26% .
In the race for the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools, incumbent Michele Cantwell-Copher held 56.51% of the vote, leading challenger Eimear O’Brien, who carried 43.49% .
Cantwell-Copher’s watch party filled the One Putt Broadcasting building in downtown Fresno. Before the first batch of election results rolled in, she handed out awards to her campaign team and supporters.
She said she felt “optimistic and excited” about her reelection campaign and declared victory during her speech to supporters.
“We have always always been about improving the lives of the children of Fresno County through powerful public education, and I have been so proud to stand with you through these last four years, particularly these last two,” Cantwell-Copher said in her speech. “We never ever lost focus on the fact that we were in this for the kids, and even when it got really hard.”
She said the campaign involved “a lot of dirty politics, but we kept it very focused on kids” and said she was proud of her work so far.
In Fresno Unified school board races, Miguel Arias cruised to an easy victory in a packed five-candidate District 1 race, carrying 40.46% . His next closest challenger, Daren Miller, held 18.01% of the vote.
Longtime incumbent Valerie Davis held 50.63% to challenger Riley Talford’s 48.64% in the District 3 contest.
Challenger Karen Steed (39.55% ) was ahead of incumbent Veva Islas, who ended the night in third (29.84% ) and Mirna Garcia (30.05% ) in the race for the District 4 trustee seat.
Excitement filled Moto’s in the Fresno High neighborhood as supporters celebrated early leads for Esmeralda Soria and Annalisa Perea in their respective races.
Soria and Fraizer sat, checking their results while Perea was not at the party.
Soria received 66% of the vote compared to DuPont’s 33%.
“Still very excited about the results,” Soria said. “It looks very promising, I didn’t anticipate over 60%. I anticipated it being a little bit closer, I’m very excited.”
She still feels like it’s too early to call the race and “wants to make sure that every single vote is counted,” Soria said.
Terance Frazier is trailing in the race for State Center Community College District Area 5, behind Marcos Osorio with 28% of the vote. Osorio leads with 45%, followed by Miguel Castaneda Sanchez with 25%.
Frazier acknowledged the gap would be difficult to close but said he was at peace with the outcome.
Fraizer, who continues to place second with 28% of the vote, said he feels discouraged, but it’s still too early to call the race.
Perea continues in the lead with 67% while Polsgrove falls significantly behind at 32%.
Another round of ballot-counting results is expected Thursday.
See more results across Fresno County by visiting Fresnoland’s live election results page that will update throughout the night.
