Your November 2026 Ballot: What Fresno Voters Will Decide This Fall
The final list of candidates and ballot measures for November 2026 is set. Fresno County voters will decide local tax measures, city and county offices, school board seats, and state races — including multiple contests where sitting officials are leaving their current posts to run for different offices.
The voter registration deadline for this election is October 19.
The Breakdown
- Local ballot measures: Two tax measures are on the ballot. The first is a replacement for Fresno County’s Measure C, called Better Roads, Safe Streets — though as of August 10, the measure had not yet appeared on the ballot, and members of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors have promised a legal challenge to the new state law that was supposed to guarantee it a spot. The second is the Fresno Public Safety, Infrastructure Restoration, and City General Services Tax Ordinance.
- Fresno City Council: Three districts are open. District 1’s incumbent Brian Pacheco is running for State Assembly. District 3’s incumbent Miguel Arias is running for Fresno Unified. District 7’s incumbent Nelson Esparza is running for Board of Equalization. All three council seats have no incumbent running for re-election.
- Fresno County Board of Supervisors: All three seats up for election are open, with no incumbent running for re-election.
- State races affecting Fresno: Insurance Commissioner (incumbent Ricardo Lara in a Democrat-vs-Democrat runoff), State Superintendent of Public Instruction (incumbent Tony Thurmond), State Board of Equalization District 1 (incumbent Ted Gaines), State Senate District 12 (incumbent Shannon Grove running for Board of Equalization), Assembly District 27 (incumbent Esmeralda Soria running for state Senate), and Assembly District 31 (incumbent Joaquin Arambula running for Fresno City Council).
- Fresno County Superior Court: Two contested seats, with both sitting judges off the ballot. Three retention questions — yes-or-no votes on sitting judges.
- School boards: Fresno Unified has four trustee areas on the ballot (1, 2, 4, and 7), with none of the incumbents or appointed incumbents running. State Center Community College District Trustee Area 5 is open because incumbent Rob Fuentes is running for Fresno City Council. Clovis Unified has two trustee areas open, with appointed incumbents not on the ballot. Central Unified has three seats open, with two sitting board members not on the ballot. Sanger Unified has two seats with no candidates filed.
- Smaller city races: Coalinga, Fowler, Huron, Kerman, Kingsburg, Mendota, Orange Cove, Parlier, Reedley, San Joaquin, and Selma all have city council seats on the ballot, with several incumbents not running.
What This Means for You
This ballot puts you in the position to decide who will control Fresno’s city council, county board, and multiple school boards for the next term — and because so many sitting officials are leaving their posts to run for other offices, your vote will shape multiple levels of government at once. Three city council seats, three county supervisor seats, and multiple school board seats will have entirely new faces.
The two tax measures will determine how much you pay — one is a replacement for Measure C called Better Roads, Safe Streets, and the other is the Fresno Public Safety, Infrastructure Restoration, and City General Services Tax Ordinance. If you miss the October 19 registration deadline, you will not be able to vote in this election.
What You Can Do
Register to vote by October 19 if you are not already registered, or check your registration status. For more information on local races, visit the Fresno County election clerk’s website. For state races, visit the California Secretary of State’s website.
What to Watch
The Measure C replacement called Better Roads, Safe Streets had not appeared on the ballot as of August 10, despite a new state law that was supposed to guarantee it a spot — and the Fresno County Board of Supervisors has promised a legal challenge to that law. Whether that measure actually makes it onto the ballot is a live question with no answer yet. Watch for whether the legal challenge succeeds and whether the measure appears.
The sheer number of open seats — three city council districts, three county supervisor districts, multiple school boards — means a large share of Fresno’s elected leadership will turn over at once.
