Bee Editorial Board breaks down the election results so you don’t have to | Opinion

In a Fresno County primary election lacking drama, predictable was the winner over surprise.

Predictable, in that incumbents up and down the local ballot posted strong showings and, in most all cases, advanced to a new term.

Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer cruised to a second term by getting a resounding affirmation from the voters, taking 81% of the ballots cast in the unofficial results. Totals will be certified in about a month after all the ballots are counted.

Four years ago, he also won outright in the March primary, overcoming six other candidates then. This time he faced just two little-known challengers.

City Councilmember Mike Karbassi, who represents the northwest part of the city, had 74% of the ballots.

Councilmember Tyler Maxwell’s name was on the ballot, but he did not even face a challenger. He got 98% of the votes.

On the Fresno County Board of Supervisors, incumbent Nathan Magsig had 70% of the votes. The former Clovis City Councilmember, Magsig represents the eastern part of the county and the city of Clovis.

South Fresno is represented by Sal Quintero. The incumbent easily beat back a challenge by a pair of Fresno councilmembers, Luis Chavez and Miguel Arias.

However, Quintero was headed toward a runoff in the fall against Chavez, his former staffer. That’s because Quintero did not achieve enough votes to avoid a second contest.

Another county supervisor incumbent headed to a runoff is Steve Brandau. The District 2 supervisor finished second to challenger Garry Bredefeld, a Fresno councilmember making his first attempt at county office.

The two were separated enough from three other challengers that the November race between them will happen.

Name recognition and money

Incumbents always have an upper hand since they are better known by those they represent. That was particularly true for 76-year-old Quintero. He has been in office since 2017, and previously served southeast Fresno on the City Council.

Bredefeld is trying to make the jump from city government to the county. To do that, he raised a big amount of money. At one point, Bredefeld had more than $500,000. As of Feb. 17, he had $346,000 cash on hand. The funding helped him aggressively advertise on television, in mailers and on websites.

Brandau, by contrast, had $46,000 as of Feb. 17, the last reporting date. His ad blitz was not as pronounced and, in his case, incumbency did not hold as much sway as it did for Quintero.

Money for advertising also helped Roger Bonakdar, who took the early lead for the Fresno City Council District 6 seat. He had $201,000 remaining as of Feb. 17. He will face either Nick Richardson or Molly Fagundes-Johnston in a fall runoff.

Why low turnout

A key factor for low voter turnout — just 16% of those registered to vote cast ballots — was the primary’s presidential nominating race. Given that Joe Biden and Donald Trump have all but been formally nominated to represent the Democratic and Republican parties, any drama in that top contest was missing Tuesday.

Politics has also become an exhausting exercise in America with the sharp divisions between the parties.

Add it up, and who could blame prospective voters from saying, why bother?

Far from being surprising, that was predictable.

This story was originally published March 5, 2024 at 10:20 PM.