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Fresno Political Aide Looks Set to Unseat Central Trustee. Big Leads in Other Races.

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Photo Illustration with ballot box and Central Unified logo
Four Central Unified School District trustees sought reelection on Tuesday. (GV Wire Illustration)
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Editor’s Note: This story initially reported incorrectly that Joshua Sellers was an incumbent in the Area 1 race.

There may be two new faces on the Central Unified School Board as a result of Tuesday’s elections.

Four seats — Areas 1, 2, 4, and 7 — were up for election. Area 7 incumbent Naindeep Singh Chann faced no opposition in the election, and incumbent Yesenia Carrillo in Area 2 had a substantial lead over her challenger in the vote returns reported late Tuesday. Carrillo, who faced two challengers, had 58.6%, accountant Kelvin L. Ashford had 28.6%, and radio announcer Erik “Danny” Salas had 12.2%.

In the open Area 1 seat, firefighter Joshua Sellers had an overwhelming lead of 74.3% over Realtor Michelle Sweeney with 25.1%. They were running to replace former Trustee Jason Paul, who opted not to run for re-election.

In the Area 4 race, incumbent Shawn M. Brooks was losing to district director Nabil Kherfan. Kherfan had 56.8% to Brooks’ 42%.

Tuesday night Kherfan said he and his volunteers had worked hard to introduce him to the area’s voters.

“I canvassed the area three times myself,” said Kherfan, who works for Fresno City Councilman Tyler Maxwell. “I think voters know they want change, and I feel confident with tonight.”

The Fresno County Elections Office still has thousands of ballots that were put in drop boxes or mailboxes by Tuesday yet to count, and the final tallies likely won’t be known until later this month.

GV Wire reporter David Taub contributed to this story.

Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email