Richardson, Bonakdar in tight race for NE Fresno City Council seat
After months of debating which of the two candidates is the most Republican in a nonpartisan Fresno City Council election, candidates Roger Bonakdar and Nick Richardson await to see who voters have declared the winner.
Unofficial Election Night totals reported after midnight Wednesday show Richardson leading with all 15 precincts reporting, but only slightly. Richardson had 50.6% of the votes in the vote tally, ahead of Bonakdar’s 49.1%, in a very tight contest. Only 319 votes separated the two candidates out of more than 21,000 votes counted. It is likely to be a couple of weeks before late vote-by-mail ballots are fully tabulated and a final result determined.
Both Bonakdar, a local attorney, and Richardson, a businessman and U.S. Marine Corps Reserve officer, are first-time political candidates, and were the top two vote-getters from a field of four candidates in the March primary. The eventual winner will ultimately represent District 6, which covers northeast Fresno.
Typically – but not always – returns compiled at the end of Election Night reflect percentages similar to the final confirmed result when all of the counting is completed and the election certified. That could take up to four weeks after Election Day.
Current District 6 Councilmember Garry Bredefeld was barred by term limits from seeking a third four-year term. Instead, Bredefeld opted to run for the District 2 seat on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors against incumbent Supervisor Steve Brandau. Bredefeld did not endorse a candidate in the race to replace him.
Both candidates listed public safety, homelessness and business support among their priorities.
Although City Council seats are nonpartisan positions in Fresno, District 6 leans Republican in voter registration. Of more than 49,000 registered voters, 41.4% are Republicans, and have an advantage of 9.1 percentage points over Democrats. Nearly one in five voters in District 6 are registered with no party preference.
Still, there was wrangling during the campaign over an endorsement from the Fresno County Repubilcan Party. Bonakdar had been registered as a no-party-preference voter but switched his registration to Republican after the March primary, while Richardson has been a registered Republican voter since he reached voting age. But in August, the local Republican group endorsed Bonakdar after initially endorsing both candidates.
This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 9:06 PM.
