Fresno City Council Primary Results Show Three Runoffs, One Outright Winner

Fresno County elections officials counted approximately 183,000 votes in the June 2026 primary election, representing about 34.6% turnout, as four vacant Fresno City Council seats went to voters.

Three of the four City Council races will head to November runoffs because no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, according to results tallied through June 16. Only District 5 incumbent Brandon Vang won outright with 53% of the vote, defeating State Center Community College Trustee Danielle Parra.

In District 1, progressive candidate Naindeep Singh led with 38.69% over Rob Fuentes at 36.52%, setting up a November runoff between the two. Singh won despite lacking endorsements from political action committees, Mayor Dyer, the Chamber of Commerce, or establishment Democrats, according to analysis of campaign finance data.

Advertisement

The District 3 race between State Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula and Fresno Unified Trustee Keshia Thomas will also go to a runoff, with Arambula leading at 29.93% to Thomas’s 27.63%. Neither candidate received endorsements from the mayor or the Democratic Party.

District 7 produced the closest result, with Nav Gurm ahead of community activist Ariana Martinez Lott by only 27 votes as of June 16. The two will face each other again in November. Gurm had three times more money than Martinez Lott and received endorsements from the mayor, the Chamber of Commerce, and PACs, but Martinez Lott had $10,000 more in individual donor funding.

Fresno County elections officials expected to certify final results by June 26, with approximately 70,000 ballots remaining to be counted as of mid-June. The county said turnout was shaping up to be among the largest ever seen in a primary election.

The Breakdown

• Four Fresno City Council seats were on the ballot in the June 2026 primary (Districts 1, 3, 5, and 7)
• Only District 5 was decided in the primary, with incumbent Brandon Vang winning outright with 53%
• Districts 1, 3, and 7 will have runoff elections in November because no candidate reached 50%
• Vote counting continued through late June under a new state law that shortened the certification timeline from 30 days to 13 days
• Final certification was expected by June 26

What This Means for You

If you live in Fresno City Council Districts 1, 3, or 7, you’ll vote again in November to decide your city council representative. The council shapes local tax rates, reviews the city’s $2.5 billion budget, and oversees essential services including building permits, land use zoning, and safety code enforcement.