Early Returns Show Measure S Transportation Tax Trailing, Incumbents Leading in City Council Races
The first batch of Fresno County election results dropped Tuesday night showing the hotly-contested Measure S transportation tax renewal trailing with 53.53% voting against. Three City Council incumbents held early leads in their districts.
Rob Fuentes led challenger Naindeep Singh 52.13% to 47.87% in District 1. In District 7, Ariana Martinez Lott held 54.69% to Nav Gurm’s 45.31%. Joaquin Arambula was ahead of Keshia Thomas in District 3, 55.99% to 44.01%.
In the race for Fresno County Board of Supervisors, Kerman Mayor Maria Pacheco jumped ahead of Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi, 55.37% to 44.63%.
Michele Cantwell-Copher, the incumbent Fresno County Superintendent of Schools, held 57.52% over challenger Eimear O’Brien’s 42.48%.
Fresno Unified school board races saw Miguel Arias leading a five-candidate District 1 field with 42.19%. His closest challenger, Daren Miller, held 18.93%. Longtime incumbent Valarie Davis led with 53.50% to Riley Talford’s 45.86%. Challenger Karen Steed (39.87%) was ahead of incumbent Veva Islas (33.49%) and Mirna Garcia (26.32%).
Most races won’t be called after the first batch and updates will continue through the night and into the week. Fresno County voters had until 8 p.m. to cast ballots at drop boxes or vote centers.
The Breakdown
- Measure S transportation tax: Early returns show 53.53% voting against the renewal, 46.47% in favor.
- City Council contests: Three incumbents — Fuentes (District 1), Martinez Lott (District 7), and Arambula (District 3) — all holding leads ranging from 4 to 12 percentage points over their challengers.
- County Supervisor race: Kerman Mayor Maria Pacheco leading Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi by roughly 11 points.
- County Superintendent of Schools: Incumbent Michele Cantwell-Copher ahead by 15 points over challenger Eimear O’Brien.
- Fresno Unified school board: Three separate races, with one incumbent (Davis) leading, another (Islas) trailing her challenger, and a five-way open-seat race where the frontrunner holds 42% but no majority yet.
What This Means for You
These early numbers give you the first read on who Fresno voters are choosing for city, county, and school-district positions for the next term. Keep in mind these are first-night tallies from a subset of ballots — most races won’t be called tonight and counts will update through the week.
What You Can Do
Results will continue updating through the night and into the week. Check back at Fresno County’s official election results page and other local sources for updated tallies as more ballots are counted.
What to Watch
The Measure S outcome is the headline grabber — a transportation tax losing in early returns. Watch how the percentages move as more ballots get counted.
On the candidate side, look for how the margins hold in races where the leader has less than 55%. The five-way Fresno Unified District 1 race is a clear one to track: the frontrunner has 42%, meaning a majority of voters picked someone else, and late ballots could consolidate behind the second-place candidate or spread even thinner.
The County Supervisor race deserves scrutiny beyond the horse-race numbers. Pacheco and Karbassi represent two different bases — one a mayor from a smaller Central Valley city, the other a sitting city councilmember from Fresno proper.
Finally, the Fresno Unified races where an incumbent is trailing (Islas behind Steed by 6 points) or an incumbent is ahead but not dominant (Davis up 7 points) — watch whether those gaps widen or close.
