Who’s ahead in the race for seats on Fresno County school boards
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Original story:
Board seats in Fresno County’s largest school districts and community college district are on the ballot this election, and roughly half of the votes have been counted as of 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The story will be updated as more ballots are counted throughout the night.
State Center Community College District
Four State Center Community College District trustee areas are on the ballot.
Two people are challenging Area 2 Trustee Eric Payne. Nasreen Johnson, a communications professional, has about 37% of the vote, with about 58% of the ballots counted.
Sevag Tateosian, a public health analyst, was at about 32%, and Payne is at 30% of the votes.
Area 3 Trustee John Leal led his race with 38.5% of the vote in Fresno County, but his challenger Danielle Parra, a bookkeeper, was right behind with 37.9%. Leal’s other challenger, Dary Rezvanis, a business owner and accountant, had about 23% of the vote. About 55% of the ballots had been counted.
A small portion of Area 3 extends into Kings County. The latest totals from Kings County were reported around 10:15 p.m. and showed a total of 61 votes, with Leal capturing nearly 72%.
Area 6 Trustee Deborah Jean Ikeda had a lead with 43% of the vote, and nearly 66% of the ballots have been counted in that race. Sally Fowler, a retired school administrator, had about 38% of the votes, and Chris Milton, a businessman, had about 18% of the vote.
Incumbent Richard Caglia, Area 7, also had a lead with 45% of the vote, and about 53% of the ballots have been counted so far. Jon Bath, a Fresno Unified teacher, had about 31% of the vote, and Abena Cruise, a community health representative, has about 22% of the votes.
Fresno Unified
Fresno Unified trustee areas 5 and 6 are on the ballot, and both incumbents are running for re-election.
Three people are running against Trustee Carol Mill, area 5, who has been on the board since 2004. This will be the attorney’s fifth time running for another four-year term. About 50% of the ballots have been counted, and Mills is in the lead with about 45%.
David Paredes, a community youth organizer, Alexandria Desiga, an education project manager, and Sharon A. Clinton, a retired job specialist, are running against Mills. Paredes has about 36% of the votes, Desiga has about 12%, and Clinton has about 5%.
Two people are running against Trustee Claudia Cazares, Area 6, who was elected to the board in 2016. Esteban Pacheco, a dispatcher, and Bill Gates, a business owner, are running against Cazares.
Cazares has about 50% of the votes, with about 55% of the ballots counted. Gates has about 24% of votes, and Pacheco has about 24%, also.
Clovis Unified
Four seats in Clovis Unified are up for election.
Area 2 Trustee Ginny L. Hovsepian is not running for re-election. Jacob Trumble, a ramp agent, and David Defrank, an attorney, are running against each other. Defrank has a lead with about 78% of the votes so far. About 65% of ballots have been counted.
Two people are running against Area 4 Trustee Hugh Awtrey, who was appointed to the board last year to fill a retired board member position. Noha Elbaz, an educator, and Jonathon Holt, a financial planner, are running against Awtrey.
With about 65% of the ballots counted, Awtrey has about 39% of the votes. Elbaz has about 35% of the votes, and Holt has about 25%.
Area 5 Trustee Christopher Casado is being challenged by Yolanda Moore, a physician assistant. With about 65% of the ballots counted, Moore is in the lead, with about 53% of the vote.
Central Unified
There are three seats on the ballot for the Central Unified school board, the third-largest school district in the county.
Corbin Gunstream, a chief financial officer, is challenging Area 3 Trustee Phillip Cervantes, who so far has about 51% of the votes, and about 60% of the ballots have been counted.
Long-time Area 6 Trustee Terry Cox is not running for re-election. There are four people on the ballot: Stacy Williams, a community organizer and department manager, Sandra R. Flores, a community outreach manager, Richard Martinez, a businessman, and Jeremy Alam Mehling, a farmer, and businessman.
With almost 51% of the ballots counted so far, Mehling has about 33% of the votes. Flores has about 26% of the votes, Martinez has about 22%, and Williams has about 17%.
Former Area 4 Trustee Richard Atkins resigned from the board in June just days after making comments on social media that critics described as “racist,” “disgusting,” and “xenophobic.” The seat has been vacant since.
Shawn M. Brooks, an account clerk, and Bret Rush, an assistant for a county supervisor, are running against each other for the Area 4 seat. Brooks has nearly 61% of the votes. Almost 50% of the ballots have been counted so far.
Sanger Unified
There are two seats on the ballot for the Sanger Unified school board, the fourth-largest district in Fresno County.
Area 1 Trustee Tammy Wolfe is being challenged by businessman Juan- Antonio “Sebastian” Ardemagni. Wolfe has a lead with about 74% of the votes, and about 61% of the ballots have been counted.
Karate instructor Va Pao Her is running against Area 4 Trustee Rick Duran. Her is in the lead with about 51% of the vote, and about 55% of the ballots have been counted.
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 9:49 PM.