What's at stake?
Ariana Martinez Lott has won the race for the Fresno City Council District 7 seat.
Nav Grum took to social media Wednesday to concede the Fresno City Council D7 race to his opponent, Ariana Martinez Lott, a community organizer and small business owner, whom he trailed by nearly 900 votes.
As of Tuesday night’s latest vote count, Lott held a lead of 13 points over Gurm. While Lott has not declared victory, Gurm announced through a statement shared on social media on Wednesday that her lead, currently of about 870 votes, seemed insurmountable.
“While every vote deserves to be counted,” Gurm said, “the numbers are clear: she will be the next District 7 councilmember. ”
The rapid nature of Lott’s success is a surprise, as most assumed the race for the District 7 seat would be among the tightest local races from Tuesday’s midterm elections. In the June primary election, Lott came in second behind Gurm, though she was separated by only 20 votes.
Lott told Fresnoland on Wednesday that her big lead took her by surprise, as she had already begun preparing supporters ahead of her Tuesday night election party that a winner for the D7 race might not be known for weeks.
“But my mentality was just to celebrate with people,” Lott said of her mood at her Tuesday night election party as the early voting results rolled in. “But I also felt really good going into last night because of how much work we put in going into that night.”
Lott also trailed Gurm in fundraising heading into Tuesday night. However, Lott said that may have been an advantage as that, coupled with a Gurm’s win of notable local establishment endorsements, helped position her to voters as a political outsider whose win in November could help signal dissatisfaction with Fresno City Hall’s political status quo.
“We were just trying to get our name out there,” Lott said of her campaigning efforts leading into the June primary. But heading into Tuesday night, she said, “people would tell us, ‘Oh, we actually already voted for you.’”
Lott will succeed Nelson Esparza as Fresno City Councilmember. He endorsed Lott’s opponent, Gurm, in the race.
The two talked since Tuesday night, Lott said, with Esparza offering to meet and help ensure a smooth and successful transition of power heading into the new year.
Esparza, who terms out at the end of the year, appears poised to move onto a statewide office role as a member of the California Board of Equalization. As of Wednesday morning, Esparza, a Democrat, holds a strong seven-point lead over Republican Shannon Grove.
Lott and two other city council candidates — Naindeep Singh, a local nonprofit executive and board member for Central Unified, and Dr. Joaquin Armabula, a state assemblymember — formed a bloc of candidates that campaigned as a trio that could effectively stymie Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, in particular with his Southeast Development Area proposal.
“I really hope to serve alongside them,” Lott said.
As of Tuesday night, Arambula, who is running for the city’s District 3 Fresno City Council seat, holds a strong nine-point lead over his opponent, Keisha Thomas, a Fresno Unified board member. However, neither side has called the race.
Singh, who is running for the District 1 Fresno City Council seat, holds a slim lead of less than a point, a matter of 16 votes, over his opponent Rob Fuentes, a trustee for the State Center Community College District. Revealing itself on Tuesday night to be the tightest local race on the November ballot, a winner may not be known until next week.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that Lott declared victory. She has not declared victory. Her opponent has conceded the race.
