What's at stake?
The campaign attracted significant outside spending, with Bredefeld raising $238,000 through September, including $25,000 from SEIU Local 2015, while Brandau raised $150,000, including $35,000 from developer Richard Spencer.
Garry Bredefeld maintained a big lead Thursday in the closely watched race for Fresno County’s District 2 supervisor seat, holding nearly 56% of the vote to incumbent Steve Brandau’s roughly 44% in a contest that pit two different strands of local conservatism against each other, with thousands more ballots left to count.
Councilmember Bredefeld told Fresnoland on Thursday that he was not ready to claim victory in the race, but remains “confident that we’re going to do very well.” He also said he’s ready to bring change to the way the county operates, should he win the election.
“I can assure everyone, whether they voted for me or not, I’m going to be bringing real change, transparency and accountability, to the good old boy club,” Bredefled said. “It seems like they’re going to lose one certified member from District Two, and that’s going to change the way we do things at the county. It’s going to be much more transparent, much more accountable to the people, and there’s going to be a real voice for the people. When I get there.”
Brandau has not responded to requests for comment.
The race for north Fresno’s supervisor seat – representing the wealthiest district in the San Joaquin Valley – became a referendum on competing conservative visions for local government. Steve Brandau, the incumbent, campaigned on his business-friendly record and ambitious infrastructure projects, including efforts to build a 3,000-acre industrial park in south Fresno. His tenure saw home values surge 50% and unemployment hit record lows.
Bredefeld, a Fresno City Councilmember who says he wore through five pairs of shoes while knocking on 20,000 doors, promised to shake up what he called the board's "retirement club" mentality. He campaigned against the county's preventative drug addiction programs and criticized the board's practice of approving $5 billion budgets in 15-minute meetings.
The campaign attracted significant outside spending, with Bredefeld raising $238,000 through September, including $25,000 from SEIU Local 2015, while Brandau raised $150,000, including $35,000 from developer Richard Spencer.
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