Annalisa Perea maintains strong lead over GOP candidate in Assembly District 31 race
Fresno City Councilmember Annalisa Perea held a strong lead late on election night in the race for California’s Assembly District 31 seat currently held by Joaquin Arambula.
Returns showed almost 49,000 votes had been counted as of 11:45 p.m. in the race to represent the district, which covers the southern half of the city of Fresno, Sanger and Selma. Perea, a Democrat, held about 67.3% of the vote expected while Republican Jim Polsgrove, a retired engineering technician, held 32.7%.
The gap between the candidates had not changed much since the night’s first returns.
The Fresno Bee could not reach Perea on Tuesday night.
Earlier in the night, Polsgrove, who attended at watch party in Old Town Clovis, said he wants to “give it more time” before making a decision on the race.
Polsgrove added that he “knew it would be a rough race.”
Late on Tuesday night, Polsgrove said it is still too early to call the race.
“I don’t think we’ll see a big change tonight,” he said. “All I can say now is I’m disappointed in the early results.”
Polsgrove added that those early results don’t match the level of support he saw while campaigning, but he is confident more Republican votes will show in later returns.
The two candidates advanced from the June primary election, when Perea received 44.6% of the expected vote despite Sandra Celedon, another Democrat, also being on that ballot. Polsgrove received 34.4% of the expected vote in the primary election.
Perea, who works as an urban planner in the private sector, has been the District 1 Fresno City Councilmember since 2022, representing parts of the Tower District and west and central Fresno. She previously described herself as a pragmatic leader who can work across party lines.
She has highlighted her role in incentivizing infill development in Fresno and securing a tax revenue agreement with Fresno County that Perea says has secured more revenue for the city.
Before retiring, Polsgrove worked for the city of Fresno for decades, rising to the role of supervising engineering technician. He has described himself as a “common sense” candidate focused on affordability, reducing crime and improving water policy.
Polsgrove has highlighted his engineering experience handling projects related to roads, traffic signals and water and sewer infrastructure.
This story was originally published November 3, 2026 at 9:40 PM with the headline "Annalisa Perea maintains strong lead over GOP candidate in Assembly District 31 race."
