Campaign finance reports are in for local races throughout the Central Valley, with Merced County appearing to have one of the more interesting races.
Here’s a look at the local fundraising reports for the period covering July through December of last year:
Merced County: Both Merced County Supervisors up for reelection this year face challengers.
- District 3 Supervisor Daron McDaniel raised $60,000 in the period and has $45,500 on hand to fuel his reelection bid.
- Challenger Luis Lara raised $33,400 in the period and has $22,300 on hand.
- District 5 Supervisor Scott Silveira raised $82,800 in the period and has $69,700 on hand. Miguel Alejandre filed to run against Silveira, but his campaign finance report was not available.
Fresno County: With Fresno County Supervisor Brian Pacheco running for the California Assembly, his District 1 seat is wide open this year.
- Fresno City Councilman Mike Karbassi jumped into the race shortly after Pacheco announced his assembly run. Karbassi raised $53,000 in his now-abandoned County Clerk campaign account and has $47,000 currently in the bank. He also has $49,000 on hand in his city council campaign account.
- The only other District 1 candidate to have a financial report is West Hills Community College District board member Omar Hernandez. He reported $3,500 in his West Hills campaign account and has $1,600 on hand.
- Maria Pacheco, Lupe Flores, Eric Payne and Felipe Perez have all pulled papers to run, but Fresno County did not have any campaign finance reports posted for them.
- In District 4, Supervisor Buddy Mendes announced his upcoming retirement and endorsed former Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims to replace him. Mims raised $201,000 in the period and has $186,000 in her war chest.
- Parlier Mayor Alma Beltran, Charlie Soto and Selma Unified Trustee Nick Sahota all pulled papers to run but did not have financial reports filed with the county.
Madera County: The District 5 seat on the Madera County Board of Supervisors is opening up this year with Supervisor Bobby Macaulay deciding against running for reelection.
- Former Asm. Frank Bigelow did not raise any money during the second half of last year, although he reported having $89,000 on hand in his county campaign account. Bigelow also reported having $537,000 in the bank in his Lt. Governor campaign account with the state.
- Brook Allen raised $9,700 in the period and has $5,000 in the bank. Mel Barker raised $9,000 and has $8,900 on hand. Mark Reed also pulled papers to run but did not have a financial report with Madera County.
- District 1 Supervisor Jordan Wamhoff raised $71,000 in the period and has $171,600 currently at his disposal for his reelection run.
- District 2 Supervisor David Rogers raised $59,000 and has $68,600 on hand.
Tulare County: District 4 Supervisor Eddie Valero has two challengers for his seat: Ian Bakke, and Rudy Mendoza.
- Valero is behind on the fundraising front, bringing in $8,900 in the period with $4,400 left on hand.
- Bakke raised $59,000 in the period and has $49,900 in his war chest, while Mendoza did not have a report filed with the county.
- District 5 Supervisor Dennis Townsend reported having $29,000 in the bank for his reelection bid.
Fresno City Council: The jockeying to join the Fresno City Council is shaping up to be expensive.
- Central Unified Trustee Naindeep Singh leads the pack in fundraising to succeed Councilwoman Annalisa Perea, who is running for the Assembly. Sing took in $135,000 in the period and has $130,000 on hand.
- State Center Community College District Trustee Rob Fuentes raised $44,500 and has $52,000 in his account.
- Mayra Campa reported $14,200 in fundraising and has $10,400 in the bank.
- In District 3, Asm. Joaquin Arambula (D–Fresno) raised $75,500 and has $86,000 in his war chest. He also reported having $1,000 in his state campaign account.
- Fresno Unified Trustee Keshia Thomas raised $9,100 in the period and has $3,800 in the bank.
- Fernando Alvarez raised $20,000 and has $16,100 on hand.
- District 5 Councilman Brandon Vang reported a negative amount for the period, paying $2,100. He has $5,000 on hand as he enters his reelection year.
- State Center Community College Trustee Danielle Parra raised $26,400 and has $23,300 in the bank.
- In District 7, Nav Gurm raised $19,000 and has $40,100 in his war chest. Gurm also reported raising an additional $65,000 after the reporting deadline.
- AJ Rassamni raised $22,200 and has $29,000 in the bank, while Ariana Martinez Lott raised $19,800 and has $25,900 in his war chest.
