Six Candidates Vie for Open Fresno County District 1 Supervisor Seat

Six candidates are running in the June 2 primary election to represent most of Fresno County’s western region on the Board of Supervisors — one of the most crowded local races this cycle.

Incumbent Brian Pacheco, who has held the seat since 2014, is leaving to run for California State Assembly District 27. His departure opens a vacuum in a district that covers the cities of Firebaugh, Kerman, Mendota, and San Joaquin, plus most of Fresno’s neighborhoods west of Highway 99.

The two candidates with the most votes after June 2 will head to a runoff in November — unless one candidate clears 50% in the primary, winning outright.

The candidates are Brenda Flores, an education advocate from Mendota; Gabriel Hernandez, a West Hills Community College District trustee who worked in Councilmember Nelson Esparza’s office; Mike Karbassi, a Fresno City Councilmember who declined to answer questions for this story; Angelica Pacheco, Kerman’s mayor and a senior field representative for Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria; Raymond Payne, a State Center Community College District trustee and Central Valley Urban Institute director; and Raymond Perez, a Firebaugh councilmember who works at Fresno State’s Office of Community and Economic Development.

The Breakdown

• The Fresno County Board of Supervisors has five seats, each representing a distinct region. Supervisors oversee the county budget — which passed $5 billion last year — and direct services like social services and public health. There are no term limits.
• District 1 covers the cities of Firebaugh, Kerman, Mendota, and San Joaquin, plus unincorporated areas like Biola, Cantua Creek, Five Points, Helm, and Tranquillity. It also includes most of Fresno neighborhoods west of Highway 99 and parts of northwest Fresno in Central Unified’s boundaries.
• The primary is June 2. If no candidate gets more than 50%, the top two advance to November.
• Campaign finance reports through April 28 show Mike Karbassi leads fundraising with about $200,000, mostly from local businesses, labor groups, developers, and contractors. Gabriel Hernandez raised about $48,450, including a $30,000 contribution from the Youth Save Democracy PAC. Angelica Pacheco raised about $44,371, mostly from individuals. Brenda Flores raised about $11,450. Raymond Payne raised about $2,030. Raymond Perez submitted no fundraising documents.

What This Means for You

This election decides who will represent western Fresno County on the board that controls how over $5 billion in county resources get spent each year — money that funds everything from foster care to road maintenance to public health in your community.

If you live in District 1 — west Fresno, the rural cities, or the unincorporated communities — this is your vote. If no candidate wins outright in June, you’ll vote again in November between the top two finishers. The candidate you choose will be one of five people making those calls.

What You Can Do

The primary election is June 2, 2026. A candidate forum was held April 29 at the Sikh Institute of Fresno, where candidates answered questions on transportation, the budget, housing, and ICE cooperation.

What to Watch

The candidates split sharply on two questions: who pays for roads after Measure C expires in 2027, and whether the county should cooperate with ICE.

Five of the six candidates — Flores, Hernandez, Angelica Pacheco, Payne, and Raymond Perez — support the Better Roads, Safe Streets tax measure. Karbassi told the April 29 forum he hadn’t decided, saying he supports “an extension” but wants to see if a rival measure qualifies for the ballot. That rival plan, Fix Our Roads, has not yet qualified.

On ICE: Hernandez, Angelica Pacheco, Payne, and Raymond Perez all support California’s SB 54, which restricts local law enforcement from initiating contact with ICE. Flores opposes it, saying local law enforcement should have “increased access to and opportunities to collaborate” with ICE.

Karbassi said he supports SB 54 but acknowledged state law already ties law enforcement’s hands. Payne said ICE has been “weaponized” under the Trump administration, with “innocent people being murdered” and “neighborhoods and communities being attacked.”