Poochigian prevails in costly, combative supervisor race

'Fiscal conservative' tops Magsig for Fresno Co. board.

Published online on Wednesday, Jun. 04, 2008

A bitter and expensive campaign ended Tuesday night as political newcomer Debbie Poochigian won a seat on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors.

With 100% of precincts reporting, Poochigian received 54% of the votes. Her opponent, Clovis City Council Member Nathan Magsig, had 45%.

"It's a great night. I'm just thrilled," Poochigian, 55, said late Tuesday night. "It's been a long 14 months. I'm looking forward to hitting the ground running."

Poochigian, a businesswoman and community activist, has never held elected office. But she comes from a prominent political family -- her late father, Deran Koligian, was a county supervisor and she's married to former state Sen. Chuck Poochigian.

Poochigian's victory will lead to some changes on the board.

County employees will have one less union-friendly advocate. And Poochigian -- who was supported by Supervisors Judy Case and Phil Larson -- could create a more conservative board alliance that will leave Board Chairman Henry Perea and Supervisor Susan Anderson in the minority.

Poochigian, who touts herself as a "fiscal conservative," said the county has to control its spending and cut costs across all departments to work its way out of a budget shortfall. She believes the county needs to build up its reserves -- even if that means delaying improvements to county facilities and forgoing employee raises.

Poochigian said she believes her message resonated with voters in District 5, which covers most of the city of Clovis and the foothill and mountain communities.

Poochigian captured most of her votes from the rural areas of the county, while Magsig received most of his votes from within the city of Clovis.

"As I was walking door to door talking to voters, they wanted someone with common sense, someone with maturity, who wasn't beholden to anyone," she said.

During the campaign, Poochigian criticized Magsig for having too many ties to developers. In the last few days before the election, Poochigian and Magsig engaged in a vicious battle, trading daily attack ads on television and radio and inundating voters with negative campaign materials.

Poochigian said she is "sorry about the way the campaign ended."

Magsig said he called Poochigian and left her a congratulatory voice mail. He said that he's "proud of the job he did" during the campaign, but believes Poochigian will make a "fine county supervisor."

The candidates were in a costly fight to replace Supervisor Bob Waterston. Between them, they raised more than $1 million.

Her money along with the Poochigian name may have helped her secure the seat on the board, said Tom Holyoke, assistant professor of political science at California State University, Fresno.

"Those are big factors," he said. "She was able to raise a great deal of money to make her a viable candidate and mobilize the voters necessary to put her over the top."