Brandon Vang wins Fresno City Council race. ‘Now the real work begins’
Brandon Vang has emerged as the winner of the District 5 Fresno City Council race, narrowly avoiding a runoff election.
Vang, a Sanger Unified trustee, maintained his lead with 50.19%, or 2,324 votes, according to the latest tally by the Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters released Friday morning. He won the race with 9 votes over the majority threshold needed to win.
In a statement, Vang declared victory and thanked his voters, supporters, volunteers and staff who helped make the “historic” win possible.
“To everyone who walked a precinct, made a phone call, hosted a house meeting, or simply believed in this campaign — thank you. This victory belongs to all of us,” Vang said. “Now the real work begins, and I’m ready to deliver for the people of District 5.”
Vang has described himself as an independent candidate who wasn’t beholden to special interests. He’s endorsed by Joaquin Arambula and several Sanger Unified trustees and Sanger city leaders.
Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas, a Fresno Unified Trustee and deputy general manager for external affairs for the Westlands Water District, maintained her solid second place, securing 1,621 votes, or 35.01%. Jonasson Rosas, 40, is married to the former seat holder, Luis Chavez, who left the seat in January to assume his position as District 2 County Supervisor.
She had secured several major endorsements from Fresno Police Officers’ Association, Fresno Firefighters, Central Labor Council, Building and Construction Trades, Fresno Chamber of Commerce, National Women’s Political Caucus, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, and Councilmembers Annalisa Perea, Nelson Esparza, Mike Karbassi and Tyler Maxwell.
“I congratulate Brandon and wish him the best in tackling District 5’s needs and challenges in the upcoming months,” Jonasson Rosas said in a statement.
Jose Leon Barraza, City parks commissioner and CEO of Southeast Fresno Economic Development Corporation, has secured 568 votes, or 12.27% while Paul Condon has 106 votes, or 2.29%. A write-in candidate Nickolas Wildstar has secured 11 votes.
“These are the official results,” said James Kus, Fresno County’s top elections official. “We’ve already provided the certification to the city of Fresno,” he said.
Only 12.96%, or 4,677 of 36,076 of registered voters in the district cast a ballot in the special election.
Vang’s swearing in expected Thursday
Fresno City Clerk Todd Stermer previously told The Bee that the Fresno City Council will accept the certified election results during the April 10 meeting and that if there was a clear winner, they will be sworn in during the meeting.
Vang will be the first Hmong American to represent the district. (Though the first Hmong American to serve on Fresno City Council was Blong Xiong, who served from 2007 to 2015.)
Any voter of the state of California can request a recount until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 9, Kus said. The request must be a written request and the requester is responsible for paying any incurred fees, he said.
Attack ad controversy
The race generated controversy days before the election when an attack ad accused Vang of statutory rape and shared confidential court records to establish paternity and child support, though the mailer left out the alleged victim was Vang’s wife of 30 years.
Vang, 52, is five years older than his wife, who would have been 15 when their oldest of five children was born in 1993. Vang denied the accusations in the ad and called them “completely false and deeply hurtful.” Vang’s wife May Lee, 47, said in the interview that she was “very upset” at the attack on her family.
Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz issued a fine of $1,000 against Fresno Future Forward, the “dark money” group behind the mailer, for violating city and state campaign finance laws. All of Vang’s opponents on the ballot denied being involved with the group behind the mailer.
This story was originally published April 4, 2025 at 1:16 PM.
