If voters use fundraising totals as a barometer of success, Steve Brandau and Garry Bredefeld are in a virtual tie for their Fresno County supervisorial race.

However, other metrics suggest that Bredefeld could have the upper hand in a battle of former colleagues and political allies.

Local campaigns filed campaign finance disclosures for money raised through June 30. Bredefeld, the Fresno city councilmember trying to outflank incumbent Brandau to his right — Brandau is considered to be very conservative already — more than doubled his fundraising for the Feb. 18 through June 30 period.

Brandau is running for his second full term, and third overall for District 2 covering much of north Fresno and parts of Clovis.

In the March 5 primary, Bredefeld garnered 38% of the vote, the most in the five-candidate field. Brandau finished second with 28%, necessitating the November runoff.

By raising $175,055 to Brandau’s $68,324 in the latest reporting period, Bredefeld has pulled within $15,000 of his rival for total cash raised since the campaign started.

Keep in mind, however, that Brandau started collecting cash after his 2020 re-election. The county sued Bredefeld and Luis Chavez to prevent them from transferring funds from their city council accounts to their supervisor accounts.

The judge ruled for Bredefeld and Chavez.

(Note: this updated version of the story clarifies that it was the county that sued Bredefeld and Chavez to prevent them from transferring funds).

Bredefeld has a significant cash-on-hand lead, by a factor of seven. That could buy plenty of TV and radio commercials come this fall.

Familiar contributors and groups gave to each. Brandau picked up contributions from county employee groups representing prosecutors and district attorney investigators, and the Fresno Chamber of Commerce.

His biggest contributors: developer Richard F. Spencer ($10,000), and Westside Harvesting, LLC ($5,000).

Bredefeld picked up $10,000 each from Westside Harvesting, LLC, the Fresno City Firefighters union, Shiralian Enterprises Inc., and C3 Electric — his biggest contributors. He also received several contributions in the $5,000 range.

Quintero, Chavez Battling in Money Lead

Sal Quintero is defending his Fresno County supervisor seat — District 3 covering south Fresno and the surrounding area. In the March 5 primary, Quintero finished ahead of a four-candidate field with 37%. Chavez finished second with 26%.

Challenger Luis Chavez, a Fresno City Councilmember and former Quintero staffer when the latter served on city council, raised more money in the time period. Quintero continues to lead overall and in cash on hand.

Quintero’s biggest contributor this period — retired Clovis Unified teacher Steven Spencer at $5,500.

Chavez received several $5,000 contributions from union groups, attorney groups, and contractors.

Fresno Council: Bonakdar Leads Fundraising

With Bredefeld termed out and running for supervisor, Fresno City Council District 6 — northeast Fresno — will have a new representative.

Attorney Roger Bonakdar and military veteran and security consultant Nickolas Richardson advanced to the November election from the March primary.

Bonakdar finished on top in a four-candidate primary field with 37%. Richardson finished second with 27%.

Bonakdar — best known for representing former Bitwise Industries employees and winning a $20 million settlement this week — reported raising more than $81,000 in the most recent period. He also has big leads in overall raising and cash on hand.

Richardson will have to rely on his Marines background, which could play well in the district. During the primary, he raised the least funds, but finished second in a four-person race and denied Bonakdar a majority to force a November runoff.

Clovis City Council: Two Incumbents, Two Challengers

Clovis voters will chose two councilmembers on the ballot come November. The field continues to grow.

In Clovis, Lynne Ashbeck is running for her seventh term — first elected in 2001. Vong Mouanoutoua is running for his third term.

This will be the first even-numbered year November election for this cycle. Clovis elections traditionally took place in March of an odd-numbered year.

Asbheck has raised $67,218 since her 2021 election; Mouanoutoua has not reported any contributions but still has $61,109 in his campaign chest.

Two other candidates pulled papers to run: Guy Redner and David Flum.

Redner finished last in a field of 10 in November 2022.

The deadline to file is Friday, Aug. 9.