Two longtime elected leaders in Fresno are in a rematch this November to decide who represents the city’s urban core, including southwest Fresno, downtown, Chinatown and parts of the Tower District.
Joaquin Arambula, a state assemblymember representing Fresno and surrounding communities since 2016, finished first in the June primary with 2,117, or about 30%, of the vote.
But a slim margin of fewer than 200 votes separated the assemblymember from Keshia Thomas, a Fresno Unified trustee who has represented the Edison High area since 2018. Thomas picked up 1,948 votes in the primary, or roughly 27.6%.
One of them will replace the current District 3 councilmember, Miguel Arias, as he terms out (and looks to trade places with Thomas on the school board).
Read more about where the candidates, ordered alphabetically by last name, stand on several issues in our guide below. You can also revisit what positions Arambula and Thomas have previously taken on the campaign trail in our June 2026 primary guide.
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Joaquin Arambula | Keshia Thomas
Joaquin Arambula
Job: California State Assemblymember, physician
Age: 49
Current Residency: Wilson Island in the Tower District
Key Endorsements: Fresno Teachers Association, Fresno City Employees Association, Central Labor Council, Central Valley Progressive PAC
Does he want to see any changes to Fresno PD’s contract with Flock Safety?
Arambula said he shares concerns over privacy issues with Flock cameras, but said he needs to investigate the issue further before coming to any resolution.
“We can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater,” he said, “but we have to make sure that it’s getting implemented in a way that we want it to be utilized and that it’s working for us. I’m not fully convinced of that today.”
What does he think of the city’s HART team as part of its homelessness strategy?
Arambula said he plans to shadow the HART team as a councilmember to get a better sense of how effective it is.
“Seeing the results of the street, there’s more to be desired,” Arambula added of the city’s current strategy.
Arambula also pointed to his past experience seeing patients in emergency rooms in Fresno, which he said informs his approach to more “humanely” connecting unhoused people with the resources they need.
“Oftentimes it was people who were struggling because it was cold outside, or they were hungry, and they needed a blanket or a meal. Getting to know them and their story allowed me to address the real underlying need.”
Arambula added that he struggles to imagine things getting better without the help of leaders on the county side, particularly through programs like CARE Courts.
“How do we make sure our county is working with us to implement these statewide programs? That’s the type of expertise I hope to bring back locally,” he said, “to make sure that we’re working with all of the partners to implement these programs effectively.”
What does he think of the funding plan for Mayor Jerry Dyer’s proposed Southeast Development Area (SEDA)?
Arambula said he opposes the current SEDA proposal, especially now that the southeast councilmember, Brandon Vang, has formally announced his opposition to the project that would largely be developed in the area Vang represents.
“I question why we in other parts of the city think we know better than Brandon Vang does,” Arambula said.
But his concerns also go beyond the hesitancy of Vang, who Arambula supported in his past elections.
“I still just don’t fundamentally understand why we would be discussing a broader (Environmental Impact Review) that includes all forms of SEDA,” he said, “masking it under this idea that we’re really only discussing South SEDA.
“You can’t separate agreeing to all of it just by starting here in South SEDA. That’s opening the door too far for me to even begin a conversation.”
Does he support the city’s proposed moratorium on AI data centers?
Arambula didn’t commit to supporting a ban, saying he wants to learn more about projected water and energy use before he takes a position on whether it’s appropriate for a facility like that to set up shop in Fresno.
He pointed to a new package of assembly bills recently signed by the governor that requires new reporting on water and energy usage from the operators of data centers as something he’ll be looking at to inform his position.
“I have concerns,” Arambula said, specifically about energy use and the impact on residents’ PG&E bills. “But I also know we’re the tentpole for America’s economy and that in large part comes because of AI. I’m wanting to make sure we ask the tough questions without having to completely rule out the idea that we should be creating jobs in our great city.”
How does he want the city to fund affordable childcare options?
Arambula said he would be hesitant about using Measure P dollars to fund expanded access to childcare — an idea Tyler Maxwell, the District 4 councilmember, has floated.
“I thought Measure P was fairly prescriptive about how those dollars should be spent,” he said. “I didn’t hear childcare (being) a part of those conversations.”
Instead, Arambula said his work at the state level has opened his eyes to creative funding solutions, such as in Stanislaus County, where the local community foundation is working to help expand in-home childcare offerings and on-site childcare at local businesses. He also wants to ensure Fresno County gets its fair share of state funds for expanding childcare.
What’s his approach to expanding the city’s affordable housing stock?
Arambula said it’s important the city continues providing transitional homes for the unhoused.
Regarding a recent contract for tiny homes that has gone unfulfilled (and that’s now in litigation), Arambula said the city needs to “hold organizations accountable when they’re not delivering in real time contracts that we’ve negotiated in good faith.”
How would he change the city’s approach to revitalizing blighted, vacant buildings?
Arambula said he believes that the high-speed rail station planned for downtown and Chinatown will help push the owners of vacant properties in his district to redevelop their buildings.
“People will be climbing over each other to figure out how they can build, how they can create. Many of these landowners have been waiting for that payday, and I understand that. But there’s a momentum coming that will surprise us all,” he said, “that will ultimately lead towards many of these blighted buildings being purchased … and redeveloped.
“I’m just as concerned about gentrification,” Arambula added, saying he wants to ensure longtime business owners in areas like Fresno’s Chinatown reap the benefits of the planned station.
The assemblymember has been a major champion for the Central Valley’s segment of the high-speed rail and has helped secure state Cap-and-Invest dollars to keep the beleaguered project moving even while the Trump administration has stripped it of billions in federal grants, setting the project further behind.
Regarding a recent oversight report that documented nearly $600,000 in “unallowable travel expenses” paid for by the California High Speed Rail Authority, Arambula said in an email statement: “This issue involving improper expenses will be taken seriously to ensure that these types of irregularities don’t happen again.”
Arambula also pointed to the $250 million in funding he helped secure from the state for downtown infrastructure as something that could help incentivize developers to build where they wouldn’t have before.
“If they don’t have to do the underground, if they don’t have to figure out the parking for that area, it makes it easier for them just to do what’s above ground,” he said. “It’s that type of thing that we’re going to need within a certain proximity of the high-speed rail station that led me to want to run for this specific city council district that I live in. I want to finish what I started.”
How will he vote on the Better Roads, Safe Streets transportation tax proposal, aka Measure S?
Arambula supports Measure S, the proposed replacement for Fresno County’s longtime transportation sales tax known as Measure C.
“It allows us to have accountability with regard to how those funds are being spent,” he said, “so that we can ensure that we’re improving public transportation, so that we can provide free bus rides for our seniors, for disabled (folks), for students and veterans.”
Arambula also voted in favor of AB 1923, the state law that guaranteed a spot for Measure S on the November ballot after the Fresno County Board of Supervisors had voted to delay placing the measure before voters until March 2028 — nearly a year after Measure C sunsets.
What about the City of Fresno’s general tax, Measure D?
Arambula said he has concerns about whether Measure D dollars would go toward their stated purpose — as a failsafe to fund FAX and road repairs if no Measure C replacement passes in time — and hasn’t made up his mind on whether he’ll support it.
“I have concerns whether we can hold that money toward its stated purpose,” he said, “or if it’ll become a slush fund for projects that the mayor or the city council may have.”
Arambula wants more answers from Dyer about Measure D before he decides how to vote.
“I think the mayor has to explain it more to us. I think he’s flip-flopped on this a few times,” he said. “What type of guardrails are there? How do we hold him accountable for something that’s now on the ballot and before the voters? What’s the spending plan? Is he simply leaving that for the next city council to determine?
“If I have questions,” he added, “you gotta believe a lot of voters are having questions, too.”
How does he want the city to handle Measure P arts and parks programs?
Arambula said he’s open to the idea of establishing an internal office or department focused on arts and culture to administer Measure P arts grants now that the Fresno Arts Council is out of the picture.
It’s something each of the eight largest cities in California has, excluding Fresno.
“I want to make sure it gets implemented well, and that we have accountability,” Arambula said. “And sometimes that means you just have to own it, you have to internalize it, and you have to bring it inside and own the good and the bad about it.”
Does he support an ethics commission in Fresno?
Arambula didn’t commit to supporting an ethics commission but said some of the council’s recent scandals regarding consultant contracts are the reason he and others look forward to “major turnover” on the council with the upcoming election.
He specifically criticized the “public spending of tax dollars that seems to benefit a political candidate.”
“I thought that was beyond the pale,” he said.
In January, Fresnoland reported that in the months leading up to the November 2024 election, former Councilmember Luis Chavez paid more than $30,000 to political consultant Alex Tavlian’s company for Facebook ads. His office inked another contract with the company in the amount of $99,999.99 just 11 days after the council raised the threshold for contracts that need to go before the public for a vote to $100,000.
Arambula added “our ability to work with political consultants to deliver contracts in a calendar year is not something I engage in or believe in.”
He also said that he believes the city needs to hold elected leaders accountable when their decisions regarding taxpayer dollars “don’t meet our expectations.”
How does he think the city should approach redistricting in 2030?
Arambula said he’s a proponent of an independent redistricting commission that has final say over new council districts — “something much different,” he said, than the failed proposal councilmembers floated in July that would’ve created an advisory commission still granting councilmembers the final say.
“Voters should have final decision over who their electeds are,” he said.
He pointed to AB 2030, a bill he authored that was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2022. The law empowered an independent redistricting commission, modeled after commissions in counties like San Diego and Los Angeles, to redraw the Fresno County Board of Supervisors’ districts in 2030 — and stripped that power from the elected supervisors themselves to the board’s dismay.
At the time, Arambula criticized the former process as a way for elected officials to “ignore public input, and then adopt a map that serves their purposes.”
Arambula added that he wants to not only see the seven current districts addressed in 2030, but that he would push for the city to follow through on a provision in the city charter that the council would expand to nine seats once Fresno’s population exceeds 650,000. Fresno’s population has grown to more than 560,000 over the past several years, though the state projections estimate that the greater county’s population growth could slow down sooner than previously expected.
What about the allegations of substance abuse that came to light in divorce filings?
In the coverage of Arambula’s divorce in early 2026, one of the more relevant claims that emerged included allegations from the assemblymember’s ex-wife that she drove him to work because of “sobriety issues.”
When asked whether that meant he was under the influence on the job, Arambula said that things can get “messy” during a divorce while adding that he doesn’t put “too much into any of the hearsay that was reported at the start of the year.”
“I think many people who have been through tough times in their life — might have been through a divorce — know that things can get a little bit messy, especially right there at the very start,” he said. “She and I are now more … on the same page and focused on what’s good for the kids.
“I have trust in the voters that ultimately they can make up their own minds about who I am and how I’ve been,” he added. “I’ve been enjoying recovery, being able to be open and honest and willing to discuss with community what’s good and what’s bad in my life, how I’ve made improvements, and how I wish to continue to serve, if they’ll have me.”
What endorsements has he received?
- Central Labor Council, Fresno Tulare Madera Kings
- Amalgamated Transit Union
- Fresno City Employees Association
- City of Fresno Professional Employees Association
- Fresno Teachers Association
- North Coast States Regional Council of Carpenters
- Operating Engineers, Local 39
- SEIU 2015
- California Environmental Voters
- Muslim-American Caucus PAC
- Central Valley Progressive PAC
- Planned Parenthood Mar Monte
Who are some of his top funders?
Arambula has raised almost double his opponent, Thomas, in this election, bringing in more than $177,000.
He has received large donations from several labor PACs, as well as healthcare professionals and groups and his father, former state Assemblymember Juan Arambula.
His top ten donors and their total donations as of Oct. 1 include:
- Fresno City Employees Association PAC, which has donated $11,800
- Fresno Teachers Association PAC for Education, which has donated $10,000
- United Food and Commercial Workers 8 Golden State PAC Small Contributor Committee, which has donated $8,000
- Nadezhda Sargsyan, a Fresno dentist, who has donated $5,900
- The Doctors Company PAC, which has donated $5,900
- Elizabeth D. Simons, chair of the Heising-Simons Foundation, who has donated $5,900
- Valley Forward Action Fund, which has donated $5,377.84
- Northern California Carpenters Regional Council POWER PAC Small Contributor Committee, which has donated $5,000
- Juan Arambula, who has donated $4,177.33
- West Coast Waste, Inc., which has donated $3,500
Keshia Thomas
Job: Fresno Unified Trustee, nonprofit executive director of the Fresno Career Development Institute and co-founder of Golden Charter Academy
Age: 53
Residency: Southwest Fresno
Key Endorsements: Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, Fresno City Councilmember Annalisa Perea, Fresno Unified Trustees Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas and Claudia Cazares, Fresno Madera Tulare Kings Building Trades Council
Does she want to see any changes to Fresno PD’s contract with Flock Safety?
Thomas declined to comment on the contract, saying she hadn’t done research yet on Flock.
What does she think of the city’s HART team as part of its homelessness strategy?
Thomas didn’t give the HART team a specific grade but emphasized that she wants the city’s homelessness strategy to be tailored to different needs.
“Each unhoused or homeless person needs something different. Some people need some social-emotional services. Others need monetary (support). I really believe that we have to meet people where they are and find out what they need.”
She added that she wants to see more representatives from social services out talking with unhoused people and finding out what they need, rather than relying on police officers “to do stuff that’s not within their scope of work.”
Thomas added that the need is especially pronounced in her district.
The trends in Fresno’s homeless population are unclear as of this year since regional homelessness trackers are essentially hitting a “reset” button on how they count the unhoused — while Dyer did say the city has effectively eliminated “encampments” (defined as 10 or more people camped out in one location for 10 or more days).
“Our homeless rates, to me, seem like they’re growing,” Thomas said. “I haven’t seen a decrease, at least not in my area. Everything is kind of pushed to District 3.”
What does she think of the funding plan for Mayor Jerry Dyer’s proposed Southeast Development Area (SEDA)?
Thomas said she can’t support SEDA since she hasn’t seen adequate investment in existing neighborhoods, including her own in southwest Fresno
“There’s no bank where I live. Grocery stores — there’s only one, and … I’m gonna say what it is: It’s awful,” she said. “I think we need to do a better job of taking care of what’s already here.”
Thomas said SEDA plans also give her pause when thinking about the Elm Avenue rezone.
“That was another issue that I was really worried about in terms of us moving forward with SEDA — to make sure that was protected. We have to protect the Elm rezone. We have to protect it and keep it as it is. We cannot go back to industrial uses the way they were because the life expectancy is much lower than everywhere else in the city, where southwest is concerned.”
In May, Thomas sided with a slim majority of the Fresno Unified school board in voting to formally oppose SEDA. The district has projected SEDA’s buildout could shutter as many as 11 schools and drain $200 million a year in funding.
She had previously voted in February to indefinitely table the resolution opposing SEDA before the board president forced it back onto the agenda following Fresnoland reporting that revealed Dyer had privately lobbied district trustees to kill it.
Does she support the city’s proposed moratorium on AI data centers?
Thomas didn’t commit to supporting the data center ban but said her concern would be whether a large company setting up shop in Fresno would follow through on promises to benefit the community, such as by hiring local residents.
“My problem with a lot of these people moving in and opening huge companies here in Fresno is if they promise us one thing and we get another — companies promising jobs and then building robots that can do those jobs,” she said, “and then people no longer have the same jobs.
“One promise that I heard from Mr. Hall,” she added, referring to developer Sylvesta Hall, “when he opened the Starbucks (in southwest Fresno), he said: ‘We’re gonna hire people right here. People that live around here, that deserve a decent wage, that can service the people that live here in their spaces.”
How does she want the city to fund affordable childcare options?
Thomas said she would want to find ways to ensure families that are only just barely above the poverty threshold can receive support paying for childcare, especially since that was something she struggled with when she was a single mother raising young children while working.
“I was on supplemental services. I had supportive services. I needed that because it allowed me to be able to go to work and make money,” she said. “But the (tradeoff) is that once you make a certain line of money, then they start to charge you a fee.
“That is one area that we really need to look at because if I’m making baseline,” she said, “on the verge of poverty, should I really be charged for childcare? Can we find a middle ground for families who are really working hard to be stable and give back to the community and to just support their families?”
Thomas added that she isn’t yet sure where the money for the city’s childcare program should come from — something the city’s new commission on childcare is currently studying — but that “it needs to be done.”
“I believe that more employers should have a space to where they can give some kind of relief to families who need childcare,” she added. “If there’s any space where employers are large enough to be able to give that service, I think we should give it.”
What’s her approach to expanding the city’s affordable housing stock?
Thomas believes working with contractors that are based in the Fresno area “and that are wholeheartedly dedicated to our city” can help with accountability.
She pointed to developer Sylvesta Hall’s work on southwest Fresno’s West Creek Village project, including the recent opening of the neighborhood’s first Starbucks.
“He’s keeping his word because he is a lifelong Fresnan and was born and raised in District 3. That’s why it’s really important to have people that are born and bred in our areas, so that they take care of them as if they’re their own.”
Responding to a question about recent lawsuits over city-funded tiny homes that have yet to be built by contractor Pre-Fab Innovations, Thomas added that she wants the city to vigorously vet contractors and find ways to “get out of things quicker” when contractors aren’t adhering to agreed-upon timelines.
“There needs to be some contingency language that gives us that out,” she said, “instead of people always being able to sue the city.”
How would she change the city’s approach to revitalizing blighted, vacant buildings?
Thomas said she wants to see the city’s efforts to bring vacant buildings back to life extended to her district in downtown Fresno. She wants to place an emphasis on the incentive side, helping alleviate the high cost of revamping old buildings.
She’d also like to explore converting some of those vacant properties into temporary homes for the unhoused.
“We have such a housing crisis right now. Finding ways that we can give people homes, even if they’re temporary homes, in some of those spaces,” she said, “I think would be one of the best plans of action.”
How will she vote on the Better Roads, Safe Streets transportation tax proposal, aka Measure S?
Thomas supports Measure S, which she said is important especially given the incomplete sidewalk networks and bumpy roads in her district, particularly where District 3 overlaps with Central Unified.
“I think we need to take a really deep dive into looking and grading the different areas, and that way we attack the most needed spaces,” she said. “I do think that is important, and I hope that our voters see it the same way.”
What about the City of Fresno’s general tax, Measure D?
Thomas said she hasn’t made up her mind yet on whether she’ll support the city’s general tax.
“Sometimes I have to do a really deep dive as to what’s best for the city and what’s best for me as an individual,” she said. “So I’m not sure which way I’m going to vote on that yet.”
How does she want the city to handle Measure P arts and parks programs?
Thomas said she’s excited about Measure P investments in her district, including Les Kimber Park.
She just wants to see enough money set aside for maintaining those parks.
“That’s the only concern I ever have: keeping up those spaces,” she said, “making sure that city employees are driving by, making sure they’re free of needles, making sure they’re free of encampments, because I want to be able to send my kids out to the park and not have to worry about them.”
Does she support an ethics commission in Fresno?
Thomas said she’s open to the idea of an ethics commission to help root out corruption in Fresno City Hall.
“How can we mitigate some of that? Holding people accountable,” she said, “and if that means we need a commission that watches how monies are brought in, then so be it.
“But we also can’t let one bad apple spoil the bunch,” she added.
Thomas said some of the power to address these issues with ethics and transparency is at the ballot box.
“This is where we talk about voting for the right people. I know it’s hard sometimes to put people out of office,” she said, “but sometimes you have to work hard to get them out.
“I don’t feel that District 3 has had the right representation for a very long time,” she added, “and I don’t feel that the community as a whole has been equally valued as residents.”
Thomas also vowed not to accept dark money in her campaign or behave unethically in office.
“I can definitely tell you this: I will not take any dark money. I will not do anything that’s unethical. I try very hard — and you have to say try because we don’t always succeed at some things — but I try very hard to do what’s right, and I try very hard to listen to the residents and do what they ask me to do, as long as it’s ethically okay for me.
“That’s our first job,” she said. “It’s not to steal money. It’s not to misuse power and ask for kickbacks. That’s not our job.”
How does she think the city should approach redistricting in 2030?
Thomas said she would be concerned about a process that allows any out-of-town consultants to influence redistricting in Fresno. She stopped short of committing to an independent redistricting commission but said she wants both residents and councilmembers to have a say.
“It should be a fair process,” she said, “because sometimes people pick individuals that may not make a fair decision on behalf of the entire city.”
No comment on defamation case with ex-Bullard coach
Thomas declined to comment on the lawsuit brought against her by former Fresno Unified football coach Don Arax, who she accused of using a racial slur against her son while speaking on GV Wire’s “Unfiltered” podcast.
The Fresno Bee reported in August that Thomas’ son said that never happened, after which the Fresno Teachers Association called for her to resign as trustee.
Thomas issued a public apology to Arax in a statement, although she didn’t respond to the teachers union’s demand that she step down.
“I believed the information I had at the time, but I have since learned that the information I relied upon was not accurate,” Thomas’ statement read in part. “Had I known then what I know today, I would not have made those statements. I cannot undo what I said, but I can acknowledge what I know today, take responsibility for the words I spoke and offer you the apology you deserve
What endorsements has she received?
- Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria
- Fresno City Councilmember Annalisa Perea
- Fresno Unified Trustee Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas
- Fresno Unified Trustee Claudia Cazares
- Clovis Unified Trustee Yolanda Moore
- Clovis Unified Trustee Wilma Hashimoto
- Central Unified Trustee Karla Kirk
- Fresno County Women’s Democratic Club
- African American Leaders for Fresno Economic Development
- National Women’s Political Caucus
- Fresno, Madera, Tulare, Kings Building Trades Council
- International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
- UA Local 246
Who are some of her top funders?
Thomas has raised just over $91,000 in her campaign, or about half of what her opponent, Arambula, has brought in.
She has received large donations from labor PACs and a handful of political groups that support women and women of color running for office.
Her top ten donors and their total donations as of Oct. 1 include:
- Plumbers and Pipefitters U.A. Local #246 COPE Committee, which has donated $11,800
- Fresno Laborers Local 294 PAC, which has donated $7,500
- Fresno, Madera, Kings & Tulare Counties Building Trades Council, AFL-CIO COPE Committee, which has donated $6,900
- Brandon Brown, an educator, who has donated $5,900
- International Union of Painters and Allied Trades Political Action Together Legislative & Educational Committee, which has donated $5,500
- Blue Ocean America Development, the Fresno real estate company run by Sylvesta Hall, which has donated $5,500
- EV Locker LLC, which has donated $5,000
- Black Women Organized for Political Action Fresno and SJV PAC, which has donated $3,000
- National Women’s Political Caucus of Fresno PAC, which has donated $3,000
- African American Leaders for Economic Development, which has donated $2,000
