Fresno County reports almost 34,000 more votes. What does that mean for candidates, measures?

Fresno County election officials reported new votes from almost 34,000 additional ballots Tuesday evening, providing more clarity for some close midterm general election contests, but also tightening up a key race for Congress that is being closely watched nationwide.

Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters James Kus reported that his election workers have so far processed more than 187,600 ballots from the Nov. 8 election, with approximately 21,000 more to process and count. Those include about 1,000 provisional and conditional registration ballots for which voter information needs to be verified before they can be counted.

Last Thursday night, before the long Veterans Day weekend, the county had processed just under 154,000 ballots.

Tuesday’s Fresno County update provided a growing margin between candidates Esmeralda Soria and Mark Pazin in the 27th Assembly District, one of the closest contests in the state.

Democrat Soria, now a member of the Fresno City Council, now has 40,702 votes, or 51.3%, across the district, which includes portions of Fresno, Merced and Madera counties. Pazin, the former Merced County sheriff running as a Republican, trails with 38,630 votes or 48.7%.

Soria’s lead of 2,072 votes is an increase since Monday night, when Merced County issued its latest figures. The third county in the mix, Madera County, did not expect to issue a new round of results until Wednesday.

With the number of outstanding votes shrinking in Fresno County, there is less opportunity for candidates or measures that are trailing in the results to make up ground when Kus’ office issues its next update on Friday afternoon.

13th Congressional District

The new batch of votes from Fresno County kept longtime Assemblymember Adam Gray, D-Merced, in a slim lead over Republican businessman and farmer John Duarte of Hughson in their contest to win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The hotly contested Gray-Duarte race in the district, which is heavily weighted toward the North Valley, has been a squeaker since election night. With the addition of the latest Fresno County results, Gray has 56,521 votes, or 50.3%, compared to 55,921 votes or 49.7% for Duarte.

Local ballot measures

Several major ballot measures facing voters in Fresno County appeared to be heading for defeat, including the renewal of a half-cent sales tax for roads and transportation, a 0.2% tax to boost Fresno State programs, and a 0.125% tax in the city of Fresno for veterans programs and facilities.

Fresno County Measure C: The proposal to extend Fresno County’s half-cent sales tax to help pay for road and transportation improvements still appears destined to fail. Measure C so far has 105,773 “yes” votes, or 58.1%, but that’s far short of the two-thirds majority of 66.67% required to pass. “No” votes amount to 76,363, or 41.9%.

Fresno County Measure E: The 0.2% countywide sales tax proposed to support improvements to academic programs as well as facilities at Fresno State requires a simple majority of 50% plus one vote to pass. But despite a massive campaign underwritten by Fresno contractor and developer Richard Spencer, Measure E is heading toward defeat as 96,588 voters, or 53.2%, said no to the tax. That compares to “yes” votes amounting to 85,155, or 46.1%.

Fresno City Measure M: The 0.125% sales tax proposed by the Fresno City Council to provide money for veterans programs and facilities, was falling short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass. Of almost 88,000 votes cast by voters within the city, Measure M had received 52,032 “yes” votes, or 59.3%, compared to 35,767 “no” votes or 40.7%.

Clovis City Measure B: Measure B before voters in the city of Clovis proposed to raise the bed tax on hotels and lodging from the current rate of 10% to 12%. With more than 30,500 votes cast, it appears headed for an easy victory. Measure B won 21,375 “yes” votes, or 70%, outpacing the 9,178 “no” votes or 30%. The measure needs a simple majority of 50% plus one vote to pass.

Fresno Unified School District

Four seats on the Fresno Unified School District board of trustees were on the ballot. Three incumbents were leading Tuesday, but one of the incumbent trustees was losing in his re-election bid.

Fresno Unified School District Seat 4, McLane High area: Incumbent Fresno Unified trustee Veva Islas is leading in her bid for re-election in central Fresno, extending her lead after having a margin of only 25 votes after election night. As of Tuesday, Islas has 2,430 votes or 44.3%. Retired teacher Karen Steed remains in second place with 2,201 votes or 40.1%, while Michelle Denise Scire trails with 825 votes, 15%.

Fresno Unified Seat 1, Edison High area: Incumbent trustee Keshia Thomas is heading to a clear victory over challenger Wayne Horton for the southwest Fresno board seat. Thomas has 3,315 votes, or 76%, to Horton’s 1,024 votes, 23.5%.

Fresno Unified Seat 3, Sunnyside High area: Incumbent trustee Valerie Davis has a substantial lead for the seat representing southeast Fresno on the Fresno Unified board. Davis leads the four-candidate field with 3,105 votes, 47.2%. Trailing are Karl C. Diaz, 1,528 votes, 23.2%; Tammy McMahon-Gorans, 1,348 votes, 20.5%; and Michael B. Osmer, 577 votes, 8.8%.

Fresno Unified Seat 7, Bullard High area: Challenger Susan Wittrup, a retired school psychologist, is handily displacing incumbent trustee Terry Slatic in the race to represent the northwest Fresno board seat. Wittrup has 9,306 votes or 57.6%, compared to 4,217 or 26.1% for Slatic. Two other candidates trail the top two: James Richard Barr with 1,916 votes, 11.9%, and Michael W. Haynes, 669 votes or 4.1%.

Clovis City Council

The departure of two incumbents on the Clovis City Council means there will be at least two newcomers after the results of the Nov. 8 election are finalized. The race attracted a field of 10 candidates, including incumbent Drew Bessinger. Voters could select up to three candidates on their ballots.

With just over 72,600 votes tallied through Tuesday evening, Bessinger is the leading vote-getter with 15,657 votes or 21.5% on his way to another four-year term. Also on the verge of winning seats on the council are Diane Pearce, 15,270 votes or 21% and Matt Basgall at 14,514 votes or 20%. No other candidate in the field has more than 8.1% of the votes.

Clovis Unified School District

Seats 1 and 6 were both up for election on the Clovis Unified School District Board of Trustees. Clint Olivier, a former Fresno City Council member, leads the Seat 1 contest with 21,320 votes or 38.8%. His nearest competitor, communications consultant Samantha Bauer, had 17,812 votes or 32.4% as of Tuesday evening. A third candidate, Chuck Der Manouel, has 12,998 votes, or 23.7%. Joanne Burton trailed the field with 2,508 votes or 4.6%.

Deena Combs-Flores was leading the race for Seat 6, with 31,555 votes, or 61.2% of more than 51,000 votes counted so far. The other candidate, Bill Whitmore, has 19,7233 votes, or 38.3%.