School Board Candidates Report Fundraising Totals in Home Stretch

By David Taub, Senior Reporter

Published 5 years ago on

October 26, 2020

In Fresno, with the absence of city or countywide races, most of the attention in the local election is on school boards.

Candidates reported their final pre-election fundraising totals, through Oct. 17.

State Center Area 2 Is the Most Costly Race

For the State Center school board — which governs Fresno City College and other local community colleges — the most expensive race is for Area 2. Nasreen Johnson is now in the fundraising lead, with more than $50,000. Johnson works in communications for the ACLU.

Teacher unions have helped with her latest haul. The union representing State Center faculty contributed $9,000 for a total of $19,000 this election; the California Federation of Teachers gave $5,000.

Sevag Tateosian, an analyst with the Fresno County Department of Health, raised more than $37,000. His largest donor for the most recent reporting period was $3,000 from Assemi Group, Inc. — which is a separate corporate entity from Granville Homes, controlled by GV Wire℠ publisher Darius Assemi.

Incumbent Eric Payne shows no money raised or spent. He filed his report on Friday afternoon, even though it was due the day before according to California Fair Political Practices Commission regulations. Payne also filed paperwork the same day to terminate his campaign financial committee.

Sally Fowler has raised the most of any SCCCD candidate at $65,000. She loaned herself $18,000, and picked up $13,000 from the State Center teachers union.

Carol Mills is the overall leader in the Fresno Unified races, raising $57,459. Of that, $24,708 is a loan to herself.

One interesting donor in the Central Unified school board race. Conservative State Center school board member Rich Caglia gave $250 to Central Unified progressive candidate Stacy Williams.

Fresno Unified

Candidate	Race	Raised	Spent
Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas*	Fresno Unified Area 2	$3,735	$2,305
Carol Mills*	Fresno Unified Area 5	$57,459	$22,795
David Paredes	Fresno Unified Area 5	$12,431	$6,459
Alex DeSiga	Fresno Unified Area 5	<$2,000	<$2,000
Sharon Clinton	Fresno Unified Area 5	<$2,000	<$2,000
Claudia Cazares*	Fresno Unified Area 6	$26,571	$14,718
Esteban Pacheco	Fresno Unified Area 6	<$2,000	<$2,000
Bill Gates	Fresno Unified Area 6	<$2,000	<$2,000

*incumbent

Clovis Unified

Candidate	Race	Raised	Spent
Yes on Measure A (Clovis Unified)	Measure A	$338,005	$397,129
David DeFrank	Clovis Unified Area 2	$7,800	$6,500
Jacob Trumble	Clovis Unified Area 2	<$2,000	<$2,000
Hugh Awtrey*	Clovis Unified Area 4	$32,738	$24,699
Jonathan Holt	Clovis Unified Area 4	$20,860	$20,583
Noha Elbaz	Clovis Unified Area 4	$12,121	$9,363
Steven Fogg*	Clovis Unified Area 5	<$2,000	<$2,000
Chris Casado*	Clovis Unified Area 7	$20,146	$19,997
Yolanda Moore	Clovis Unified Area 7	$6,701	$6,571

*incumbent

Central Unified

Candidate	Race	Raised	Spent
Yes on Measure D (Central Unified)	Measure D	$74,437	$45,799
Jason Mehling	Central Unified Area 6	$17,960	$14,470
Stacy Williams	Central Unified Area 6	$5,913	$3,070
Sandra Flores	Central Unified Area 6	$3,625	$2,533
Richard Martinez	Central Unified Area 6	$2,301	$6,818
Phillip Cervantes*	Central Unified Area 3	<$2,000	<$2,000
Corbin Gunstream	Central Unified Area 3	<$2,000	<$2,000
Shawn Brooks	Central Unified Area 4	$3,645	$3,178
Bret Rush	Central Unified Area 4	<$2,000	<$2,000
Richard Solis*	Central Unified Area 5	<$2,000	<$2,000

*incumbent

State Center Community College District

Candidate	Race	Raised	Spent
Eric Payne*	SCCCD Area 2	$0	$0
Sevag Tateosian	SCCCD Area 2	$37,692	$27,122
Nasreen Johnson	SCCCD Area 2	$53,609	$42,656
John Leal*	SCCCD Area 3	$2,355	$1,586
Dary Rezvani	SCCCD Area 3	$44,084	$29,228
Danielle Parra	SCCCD Area 3	$6,185	$6,066
Deborah Ikeda*	SCCCD Area 6	$5,575	$4,477
Sally Fowler	SCCCD Area 6	$65,040	$41,674
Chris Milton	SCCCD Area 6	$657	$891
Richard Caglia*	SCCCD Area 7	$38,886	$24,097
Abena Cruise	SCCCD Area 7	$5,615	$2,525
Jon Bath	SCCCD Area 7	<$2,000	<$2,000

*incumbent

Fresno County Board of Education

Candidate	Race	Raised	Spent
Blake Zante	FCBOE Area 2	$22,634	$16,299
Bryan Burton	FCBOE Area 2	$13,750	$6,158
Daren Miller*	FCBOE Area 3	$24,065	$17,634
James Martinez	FCBOE Area 3	$11,989	$9,639
Craig Seber	FCBOE Area 3	<$2,000	<$2,000
Arthur Servin	FCBOE Area 3	<$2,000	<$2,000
Allen Clyde*	FCBOE Area 5	No filing listed

*incumbent

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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