November runoffs likely for two Fresno County supervisor races. Who has the early leads?

Two contested races for seats on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors are likely heading to a runoff in November, while a third one appears to be handily within reach of the incumbent based on votes counted through early Wednesday morning by the Fresno County Elections Division.

The District 2 seat on the board, currently held by Supervisor Steve Brandau, attracted four challengers in his re-election bid: Fresno City Councilmember Garry Bredefeld, County Assessor-Recorder Paul Dictos, business owner Bryce Herrera and social worker Dion Bourdase.

In District 3, which encompasses southeast and southwest Fresno and part of central Fresno, Supervisor Sal Quintero faced a trio of challengers, including Fresno City Councilmembers Luis Chavez and Miguel Arias, and teacher E.J. Hinojosa.

In those races, the top two vote-getters will face off in November unless a candidate receives an outright majority of 50% plus one vote among ballots cast in their district.

Fresno County District 2

In District 2, which encompasses northeast, northwest and central Fresno, Bredefeld and Brandau led as of 1 a.m. Wednesday.

Bredefeld, 64, received 3987% of the vote. Bredefeld campaigned vigorously by focusing on what he called the county board’s inaction on a range of issues, from children being housed in the offices of the county’s Social Services Department to a clandestine lab being illegally operated by Chinese owners from a warehouse in Reedley.

“I’m very grateful for the incredible support,” Bredefeld told The Fresno Bee on Tuesday night. “I walked 16,000 homes and we had 1,400 yard signs, and people have just been incredibly supportive. They know I’m a fighter and I will fight for them.

Bredefeld reiterated his criticism of the current Board of Supervisors on housing for foster children, a Chinese-owned medical lab controversy in Reedley, and a county needle exchange program for drug addicts. “I’m going to fight all those things and all the radical lunatic policies that are hurting our community,” he added.

Brandau, 60, is seeking a second four-year term on the board. His campaign concentrated on ensuring parents rights, most visibly demonstrated by his sponsorship of a county ordinance creating an appointed panel to review books for potential removal from children’s sections of Fresno County Public Library branches. Brandau had 27.4% of the votes on Wednesday morning.

Brandau said the early results were “about what my team expected.”

“We were outspent two-to-one by a very negative campaign that tried to mislead the voters,” Brandau said of Bredefeld’s effort. “But this looks like it’s going to November, and I’m looking forward to getting the message out about my accomplishments and letting voters hear about that.”

Trailing the top two vote-getters were Dictos at 16.5%, Herrera at 9.0% and Bourdase at 7.4%.

Fresno County District 3

Quintero, 76, has served on the board since 2017 and won re-election in 2020. By Wednesday morning, Quintero received 41.1% of the votes.

The Bee was unable to reach Quintero for reaction to his early lead in the voting.

Chavez, who served as Quintero’s chief of staff when Quintero served on the Fresno City Council, pulled in 25.4% of the early votes. Another Fresno City Council member, Miguel Arias, received 17.6%. Hinojosa received 15.8.%.

“I’m excited that we’re going to a runoff,” Chavez told The Bee. “We’re going to take our message for the next six months and work our butts off like we did in the primary.”

“I have a lot of respect for what Sal did in the 1990s,” Chavez added. “But this election is not about the past; it’s about the future.” He said he’s encouraged that while Quintero had about 41% of the vote, 59% voted for one of the other candidates.

Fresno County District 5

Nathan Magsig, 47,who represents District 5 encompassing much of Clovis and the foothill and mountain regions of eastern Fresno County, received 70.8% of the votes as of Tuesday evening. That easily outdistanced challenger Jennifer Cruz, 46, a nonprofit manager, who garnered 29.2%.

Because there are only two candidates in the race, Magsig will win the contest if he goes on to receive a majority of the votes by the time all of the ballots are counted.