With 693 more ballots counted, Nick Richardson is one step closer to pulling off a major Fresno political upset, and becoming city councilmember-elect.

Fresno County released its latest figures Monday. Richardson — a Marine Corp reservist and safety consultant — now leads attorney Roger Bonakdar by 852 votes for the open seat. Current Councilmember Garry Bredefeld will be termed out, and won election to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors.

Percentage-wise, Richardson leads 51.34% to Bonakdar’s 48.6%. This is the first time running for public office for both candidates.

Richardson’s lead grew by a net three votes since a previous update on Friday. It is his largest lead since the close of polls on Nov. 5.

He said he is feeling confident, but cautiously optimistic.

“But, we’re not going to come out and officially declare anything until either I hear from my opponent himself, or it’s declared by the powers that be, or just wait until certification,” Richardson said.

Bonakdar held the fundraising advantage by a greater than 8-to-1 ratio as of the last reporting date on Oct. 19. Bonakdar raised nearly a half-million dollars.

He also had endorsements from several law enforcement groups, the Fresno Chamber of Commerce, and the county Republican Party. Three city councilmembers — Annalisa Perea, Mike Karbassi and Tyler Maxwell — also endorsed Bonakdar.

If the lead holds, Richardson would take office Jan. 7. He plans to retain Nicole DeMera — chief of staff to Bredefeld — on his staff.

“I’d love to have that level of trusted continuity. That way we keep a lot of the experience and knowledge there in the District 6 office,” Richardson said.

Several voters skipped the race on the ballot, with 13% — or 4,783 ballots— left blank.

Next Update Friday

The next update on Friday will tabulate approximately 7,100 provisional ballots and ballots needing duplication (because of things like damage), Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters Jams Kus said.

There also remain 5,400 ballots with signature problems — which could be unsigned envelopes or signatures that do not match what is on file. Those need to be cured by Dec. 1 by 5 p.m. Kus said so far, 59 votes have been cured through Monday morning.

Not all those ballots will be from District 6.

Kus expects the election to be certified by Dec. 3.

Fresno County turnout through Monday is at 62%, and will be well below the 75% turnout in the November 2020 presidential election.