Jerry Dyer upbeat as early returns in Fresno mayor’s race show him with sizable lead
Jerry Dyer led the Fresno mayor’s race with more than 54% of the vote after the Fresno County Registrar of Voters posted early results Tuesday night.
Early returns showed the retired Fresno police chief took the lead in the race with 58,769 ballots counted. Fresno County prosecutor Andrew Janz trailed Dyer with more than 36% in early results. Five other candidates accounted for about 10% of the early returns.
To avoid a runoff in November, a candidate must receive 50 percent of the vote plus one. Dyer’s lead shrank as the night wore on, which he said he expected. As ballots are counted in the coming days and weeks, it remains to be seen whether his lead dips below the runoff threshold.
”We anticipate the voters will send this race to a runoff in November!” Janz tweeted Wednesday.
The Fresno mayor’s race is considered a battle between two front-runners, Dyer, a Republican who had never run for political office but was police chief for nearly 20 years, and Janz, a Democrat who challenged Congressman Devin Nunes in the 2018 election.
Dyer: ‘I want us to be united’
Dyer said winning was most important, but not just winning, winning with dignity.
“And I think I’ve shown that here in this race,” he said. “I’ve not been negative. We haven’t done any negative campaigning at all. And I haven’t attacked any of my opponents. ...And there’s a reason for that. It’s because when I say ‘One Fresno,’ I want us to be united.”
Dyer said he’s cautiously optimistic results will continue to favor him but expected his lead to shrink as ballots are counted.
Whatever the outcome on Election Day, Dyer said he felt a “peace of God on me.”
Being a candidate could be lonely at times, and he said he was thankful for the community members who sent him messages of encouragement.
Smittcamp joins election party; Nunes on the line
Dyer’s election party at the Elbow Room was packed with supporters, including Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp, northeast Fresno City Councilmember Garry Bredefeld and Fresno Police Officers Association president Todd Frazier.
As Dyer finished his interview with The Bee, Tal Cloud handed him a phone with Nunes on the line.
Buoyed by the early returns, Smittcamp said she’s really excited for Fresno.
“Jerry is a proven leader,” she said. “He’s dedicated to this city, and he’s dedicated to being a problem-solver. I am so glad he decided to enter this race when he could’ve quietly retired.”
Smittcamp said Diane Dyer, Jerry’s wife, is the “unsung hero” of the campaign, calling her quiet, effective and strong.
Criticism for ‘hypocrites’
Smittcamp also had some choice words for some of Dyer’s loudest and progressive-leaning critics.
Those people who believe in decriminalizing marijuana and “let people out of prison early” also were the ones who wanted to “crucify Jerry” for things in his past.
“So I just I think it’s hypocritical of people,” she said. “I think it was a very small group of people who were making a lot of noise. But it was just very interesting to know that those people were kind of talking out of both sides of their mouth.”
Next for Janz?
As for Janz, who works for Smittcamp in the DA’s Office, she said he has a bright future ahead of him no matter what he chooses – politics, prosecutor or judgeship. The timing for Janz’s mayoral candidacy wasn’t right, she said.
“I think voters were looking for an experienced candidate who they know has a heart for this city,” she said.
Janz spoke to a crowd of supporters packed into The Vault on Fulton Street about 10 p.m., saying he was sorry there wouldn’t be a definitive outcome the night of the election. The crowd included Fresno City Councilmembers Miguel Arias and Nelson Esparza; Jewel Hurtado, a councilmember in Kingsburg; and Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula.
Janz thanked his supporters for believing in his campaign and a “bigger and better Fresno” that’s more inclusive and is a “city that fights for the little guy.”
Janz told The Bee in an interview that he was disappointed by the initial returns, but he expects the gap to shrink as votes are counted.
Many of his supporters told him they held on to their ballots until Tuesday because they were waiting to see what happened in the presidential primary in South Carolina, he said. But, Janz said, if Dyer maintains his lead above 50%, then Janz will be the first to call and congratulate him.
Janz called the mayoral campaign clean in comparison to other local races. He also said that the candidates weren’t able to control what political action committees on either side did.
Mayor-council balance
Esparza, a loyal Janz supporter, said no matter the outcome of the Fresno City Council and mayoral races Tuesday night, the council will continue to hold the mayor accountable.
I think the dynamics in Fresno have shifted altogether in that we have a City Council that’s awake at the dais, asking the right questions, reading their binders and not just letting the mayor pass through whatever they might want to pass through at the right moment,” he said.
Esparza’s staffer, Tyler Maxwell, led the District 4 City Council race on Tuesday. If he wins, the council will have a Democrat super majority. But despite those demographics, Esparza said council members can’t be categorized by demographics or party.
“You definitely see different makeups and different majorities come together, depending on whatever the vote is,” he said.
Voter turnout
This was the first election Fresno County used a new voting system under the California Voter’s Choice Act, which did away with the old precinct system and gave voters a month to vote by mail or in person. Turnout under the new system already outpaced 2018 numbers, according to numbers recorded by the county.
More than 100,000 ballots countywide were mailed or dropped off through Monday, or 21% of the ballots sent in the mail.
Fresno County voting centers experienced data problems throughout the day, creating long lines and wait times for voters. Janz found that to be frustrating.
In the 2016 primary for the Fresno mayor’s race, more than 82,000 ballots were cast. In a late-night update on Tuesday, just under 57,500 had been counted.
This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 8:21 PM.