Update: Quintero says Fresno County Board of Supervisors race against Chavez is not over

City Councilmember Luis Chavez declared victory Wednesday over incumbent Sal Quintero in the District 3 Fresno County supervisor race.

As of the latest tally at Thursday afternoon, Chavez had 54.8% of votes counted so far, putting him at 2,363 more votes than Quintero. 

“I’m very confident in declaring victory,” Chavez told Fresnoland Thursday evening. He added that based on analysis from his campaign consultants, he expects to grow his margin by at least three percentage points as more results are counted.

Quintero, on the other hand, was not declaring anything as of Thursday.

“It’s not over until it’s over,” Quintero told Fresnoland. “I like to be cautious and wait till the final numbers before I say anything.”

More than 100,000 Fresno County ballots still need to be counted by Fresno County election officials, said James Kus, the Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters. 

Quintero said it’s too early to decisively say who won, given that at least a third of all Fresno County ballots still need to be processed.

In terms of expectations, the two-term incumbent said he had been anticipating a close contest with Chavez. 

“I expected it to be very close, and for it to be either way, in favor of either side,” Quintero said. He added that he is hopeful with how the remaining ballots will lean as more results are released to the public. 

Quintero said that Chavez’s campaign mailers have taken low blows at him, but regardless of that, he thinks his campaign’s message has gotten through to voters. 

“As far as our campaign goes, we did a little bit of technology, and we did a little bit of the old school,” Quintero said. “I did a lot of walking and knocking on doors and connecting with voters in that way.”

Chavez defended his campaign’s mailers, saying the negative ones were actually sent out by the SEIU union supporting him. Chavez also said Quintero’s mailers have personally attacked him.

As of Thursday, neither candidate had spoken to each other.

Chavez on how his campaign performed

Chavez said his track record of delivering results for constituents is what translated to voters.

“I knocked on over 19,000 doors from when the campaign started a year and a half ago,” Chavez told Fresnoland Wednesday. “ I think that’s why we saw those numbers.”

But more importantly, Chavez said that voters want someone who is present. He has long criticized Quintero for being “hands off,” especially in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began. 

“Residents, at the end of the day, are very smart,” Chavez said. “They know who’s working on their behalf, and they know who’s not and I think that’s why we saw those numbers.”

Should Chavez’s lead hold, he would unseat a man he worked under for six years when Quintero was on the Fresno City Council.

Quintero was endorsed by a long list of law enforcement and county officials. On the other hand, Chavez had endorsements from a host of local labor unions and Fresno city leaders. 

Back in the March primary election, about 63% of those who voted in Fresno County’s District 3 supervisor race did not vote for Quintero. Chavez said he courted those voters and met with groups that endorsed Miguel Arias and EJ Hinojosa, two candidates defeated in the March primary.

“I know that, you know, EJ and Miguel advocated for certain things,” Chavez said. “I’m happy to take that torch to the county and work on making that happen and I think that message resonated with people that saw my willingness and ability to build these partnerships.”

Chavez added that it was a bad look for Fresno County to go after him and Garry Bredefeld’s campaigns back in 2022. Fresno County failed to win its lawsuit against both Fresno city councilmembers, who transferred their city campaign funds to their county supervisor campaigns. 

“I think there’s such an entrenched establishment that protects the bureaucracy at all costs,” Chavez said. “When you weaponize taxpayer dollars to fund your legal department and come after people politically, it looks really bad.”

Chavez told Fresnoland that Henry Perea Sr., a retired politician and lobbyist for industrial developers, will be heading his transition team.

In the coming months and years, the Board of Supervisors are expected to face issues of homelessness, housing, county workers’ pay and benefits, reforming the Department of Social Services, and allocating resources for unincorporated communities, including Calwa.

District 3 is also one of the more progressive seats on the otherwise conservative-leaning Board of Supervisors. 

It has an odd shape, encompassing most south Fresno neighborhoods east of Highway 99. It stretches from the Tower District to the Fresno-Yosemite International Airport and borders Clovis. The district also runs from the southern tip of Fresno State down to the northern end of the unincorporated community of Easton.