We break down the local election so you don’t have to: Winners and one really big loser

The biggest winners in in Tuesday’s primary election? Incumbents, the strongly endorsed and the well organized.

The biggest loser? Democracy, given how pathetic the turnout was overall — currently at just 15% — and especially in two Fresno City Council races where fewer than 10% of voters took part.

The power of incumbency was certainly on display in races for Fresno County seats. In four races, only the incumbents bothered to qualify for the ballot — District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp, Assessor-Recorder Paul Dictos, Auditor-Controller Oscar Garcia and County Clerk James Kus. Facing no challengers, they all received new terms.

Also moving into a new four-year stint is Supervisor Brian Pacheco. Like the others, he had no competition.

His colleague, Buddy Mendes, has to sweat it out a bit more. He received 52.2% of the ballots to challenger Jose Ramirez’s 25.1%. While that is a big spread, Mendes must finish with at least 50% plus one of the votes to avoid a November runoff. There are outstanding ballots left to be counted, so there is a possibility — however remote — he may have to campaign again.

Valuable endorsements

Sheriff Margaret Mims was not on the ballot, having announced months ago it was time for her retirement. But her endorsement went to Assistant Sheriff John Zanoni, who also had the backing of the Deputy Sheriffs Association. Those endorsements proved powerful, as Zanoni easily defeated challenger Mark Salazar, a deputy chief in the Fresno Police Department.

Likewise, county schools Superintendent Jim Yovino backed his Assistant Superintendent Michele Cantwell-Copher for his post, as he retires at year’s end. She breezed to victory.

Dismal turnout in city races

Only 2,749 ballots were cast for candidates in the District 3 council race. Incumbent Miguel Arias received 1,687 of them and will represent south and west Fresno, the downtown and part of the Tower District for four more years.

In central Fresno’s District 7, only 2,831 ballots were cast; incumbent Nelson Esparza ran away to victory.

Incumbent Luis Chavez had a bit tougher time in District 5 because he had a stronger opponent than in the other races — Sanger school board trustee Brandon Vang. Chavez pulled away with an 11-point win to represent the southeast part of the city.

The most anticipated council race was District 1, centered on the Tower District. There, Annalisa Perea avoided a November runoff by defeating three others, including second-place finisher Cary Catalano. Nearly 5,000 ballots were cast in that race.

Perea will follow Esmeralda Soria, who is seeking a state Assembly seat. By winning outright, Perea joins Arias, Esparza and Tyler Maxwell to continue a four-person liberal majority on the council that had included Soria.

Soria’s strong showing

Soria is running for the newly formed District 27, which covers parts of Fresno and Madera counties and all of Merced County. She held the lead at 42% and is headed to a fall runoff against Republican Mark Pazin, a former Merced County sheriff, who got 33%.

Taking third at 15% of the vote was novice Republican Amanda Fleming, a Firebaugh businesswoman. Coming in last was Mike Karbassi, another Democrat in the race, who got 9.6% of the vote.

That Soria, a council member from Fresno, could capture the majority of votes in Merced County, Pazin’s home turf, speaks well of her campaign organization.

The same cannot be said of Karbassi. Like Soria, he is on the Fresno City Council. His entry into the race was curious, given he’s midway through his first council term and would be running against a fellow Democrat council member. His candidacy got stranger still as he filed a lawsuit on Monday against Soria over a campaign mailer he contends defamed him.

That matter will be heard in the courts. But Karbassi suffered a drubbing at the hands of voters. His candidacy was misguided from its inception and ended in humiliation. It was an ill-conceived way to squander political capital.

Congressional races

Once again, Republican David Valadao survives to fight another day. He captured second place in the race for Congressional District 22 despite being challenged by two other GOP candidates. One of them, former Fresno council member Chris Mathys, entered the race after Valadao was one of 10 House Republicans to support impeaching former President Donald Trump. Mathys wanted his ballot designation to say “Trump conservative-businessman,” but elections officials disqualified that identifier. “I support President Trump 100 percent,” Mathys said at the time. He finished third. For his part, Trump was silent on this contest.

Valadao, the incumbent, will face off against Democrat Rudy Salas in the fall. Salas is currently in the Assembly, and represents the stiffest test yet for Valadao, the Hanford resident who has won over the years despite being in majority-Democrat districts.

In the Congressional District 5 race, Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig made a valiant attempt to force a runoff against longtime House incumbent Tom McClintock. Both are Republicans, but McClintock has long represented the district’s mountain and gold-rush communities. Magsig finished third, but at least got his name more widely spread should he attempt a future run.

Kus said Wednesday morning that 35,000 more Fresno County ballots remain to be counted. At that, overall turnout will likely rise to 25% of registered voters — but that is below the average of primaries in recent years.

For the voters who took part Tuesday, kudos for upholding your duty to democracy. For those who sat it out, shame on you. Here’s hoping to see you take part in November.

This story was originally published June 8, 2022 at 10:57 AM.