Update: See who’s ahead in early election results for Fresno City Council District 5 race
Brandon Vang led the crowded and contested race for the vacant Fresno City Council District 5 seat with more than 50% of the vote, according to the latest election results Tuesday night.
Tallies reported by the Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters as of 9:09 p.m. Tuesday reflect 3,681 of the votes.
Vang, a Sanger Unified Trustee, has received 1,859 votes, or 50.5%. If elected, Vang would be the first Hmong-American to represent the district.
“We’re excited, we’re ecstatic,” Vang said. “The numbers are great. The numbers are in our favor.”
Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas, a Fresno Unified Trustee and deputy general manager for external affairs for the Westlands Water District, has secured 1,272 votes, or 34.56%.
Jonasson Rosas is married to the former seat holder, Luis Chavez, who left the seat in January to assume his position as District 2 County Supervisor.
Jonasson Rosas could not be immediately reached for comment.
Jason Carns, campaign manager for Jonasson Rosas, said in a text message they believe some of her votes came in later.
“We believe this is going to runoff and we will win!” Carns said.
Jose Leon Barraza, City parks commissioner and CEO of Southeast Fresno Economic Development Corporation, has secured 449 votes, or 12.2% while Paul Condon has 92 votes, or 2.5%.
A write-in candidate Nickolas Wildstar has secured 9 votes.
“I have enjoyed tremendously being engaged in this campaign because I learned a lot from residents on issues that are important,” Leon Barraza said.
“Obviously, what seems to be very important in this business is the monetary contributions, and obviously we did not have that type of money,” he said.
There are 36,076 voters registered in the district.
A candidate must win at least 50% plus one of all votes to secure the seat outright and evade a runoff. Otherwise, the top two winners will head to a runoff election.
As of Tuesday at 10 p.m., there’s still an estimated 580 votes remaining to count.
The last day to receive mail-in ballots postmarked on election day is Tuesday, March 25.
The next report of votes will be available on Thursday.
District 5 encompasses large swaths of Fresno southeast of downtown including neighborhoods along Cesar Chavez Avenue, bordering Calwa to the southwest and surrounding the Sunnyside county island to the east.
Attack ad controversy
Last week, a mailer sent by a “dark money” group called Fresno Future Forward stirred controversy in the contested race, accusing Vang of statutory rape of a 15-year-old teenager. The attack ad referenced confidential Fresno County court records to establish paternity and child support.
Vang said in a statement the accusations were “completely false and deeply hurtful” and said the child support case mentioned in the flyer involves his wife of 30 years and their oldest son.
His wife, May Lee, also spoke out against the mailers, saying she was “very, very angry” at the attack on her family.
Vang, 52, and Lee, 47, an OB-GYN nurse, have five children. Their oldest son was born in 1993, confirmed Vang’s campaign manager Pedro Ramirez. This means Lee would have been 15-years-old and Vang 20-years-old when they had their first child.
Barraza, Condon and Jonasson Rosas all denied having any involvement with the negative mailer.
“The voter sees through ll the negativity,” Vang said after results came in Tuesday evening. “Voters are smart enough to determine what is real, what is fake, who they want to represent them for the next several years,” he said.
Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz issued a fine of $1,000 against the group behind the mailer for violating city and state campaign finance laws.
This story was originally published March 18, 2025 at 8:23 PM.
