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Voting Update: Dyer Over 50%, but His Lead Shrinks
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By David Taub, Senior Reporter
Published 5 years ago on
March 6, 2020

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The latest update of election results Friday showed that the race for Fresno mayor has tightened.
After counting 50,000 of the approximately 80,000 outstanding countywide ballots, Jerry Dyer leads at 52.17%, a much slimmer margin than on election night.
Tyler Maxwell’s bid for the Fresno City Council remains on target, just as it did after Election Night returns.


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And, a school bond for Fresno Unified appears to have passed.
The next vote count update will be Wednesday afternoon.

Fresno Mayoral Race

The Friday count added 26,030 votes to the mayor’s race. Dyer, who is Fresno’s former police chief, leads with 45,537 votes or 52.17% of the tally.

GV Wire estimates that Dyer would need at least 40% of the remaining vote to avoid a run-off.
Andrew Janz, a Fresno County prosecutor, is in second place with 32,772 votes or 39.27% of the vote.
Each candidate picked up approximately 12,000 votes each.
If Dyer falls below the 50% mark, he and Janz will meet in a November runoff.
After the first vote count released Tuesday night, Dyer received 59%. After the final update reported at 10:38 p.m., that number shrunk to 54%.
GV Wire estimates that Dyer would need at least 40% of the remaining vote to avoid a run-off.
“We are encouraged by this first round of ballot returns,” the Dyer campaign said in a statement. “Given that there are many ballots left to be counted, we look forward to the next update on Wednesday.”

Fresno City Council Race

In the only contested city council race on the ballot, Maxwell maintained his election night lead of about 6 percentage points over Nathan Alonzo.
With 3,000 more votes counted, Maxwell — an aide to Fresno City Councilman Nelson Esparza — holds a 52.62% to 47.38% edge.
GV Wire estimates that Maxwell would need to pick up 37% of the remaining vote to keep his advantage.
“Today’s results reflect the hard work of our team over the past year, as well as the district’s desire to see change. This was not a victory for Tyler Maxwell, this was a victory for Fresno’s working-class families that have been historically left behind,” Maxwell told GV Wire. “I commend my opponent on a campaign well fought. I look forward to continuing to serve our Central Fresno families in my new capacity as Councilmember.”

School Bond Measures

Only one of the school bond construction measures for a district in Fresno appears to be passing.
Local bonds need 55% to pass.
Measure M, to raise $325 million for Fresno Unified, is virtually certain to pass.
With nearly 17,000 more ballots added, Measure M leads 59%-41%. That is about one point higher than on Election Night.
Two others, Clovis Unified’s Measure A — valued at $408 million — and Central Unified’s Measure C — $120 million — continue to trail.
Measure C is on the cusp, but still under the 55% mark at 54.20% in favor after nearly 4,000 more ballots were counted.
The Clovis Unified measure continues to be under the threshold for passage. With more than 15,000 additional votes tallied, the measure stands at 49% yes.

Turnout

Turnout, with the remaining votes added in, will be at 42%, nearly the same as the last presidential primary in 2016. The estimated 200,000 voters exceeds the 2016 raw number.
“I really expected a higher turnout with the national interest, Super Tuesday, the expanded voting opportunity. I was really hoping for more turnout than that. I do think we will get more turnout in November,” Fresno County Clerk Brandi Orth told KSEE’s Sunday Morning Matters in an interview that will air Sunday.
This is the first Fresno County election under the Voters Choice Act system. Instead of hundreds of neighborhood precincts open only on Election Day, 53 voting centers were spread throughout the county, along with 43 drop boxes. The centers were open for early voting four-to-10 days before the election.
Additionally, every registered voter received a vote-by-mail ballot automatically. Before, only those who requested absentee ballots received them through the mail. Plus, all mail-in ballots could be returned postage-free.

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David Taub,
Senior Reporter
Curiosity drives David Taub. The award-winning journalist might be shy, but feels mighty with a recorder in his hand. He doesn't see it his job to "hold public officials accountable," but does see it to provide readers (and voters) the information needed to make intelligent choices. Taub has been honored with several writing awards from the California News Publishers Association. He's just happy to have his stories read. Joining GV Wire in 2016, Taub covers politics, government and elections, mainly in the Fresno/Clovis area. He also writes columns about local eateries (Appetite for Fresno), pro wrestling (Off the Bottom Rope), and media (Media Man). Prior to joining the online news source, Taub worked as a radio producer for KMJ and PowerTalk 96.7 in Fresno. He also worked as an assignment editor for KCOY-TV in Santa Maria, California, and KSEE-TV in Fresno. He has also worked behind the scenes for several sports broadcasts, including the NCAA basketball tournament, and the Super Bowl. When not spending time with his family, Taub loves to officially score Fresno Grizzlies games. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Taub is a die-hard Giants and 49ers fan. He graduated from the University of Michigan with dual degrees in communications and political science. Go Blue! You can contact David at 559-492-4037 or at Send an Email

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