More than two weeks after the general election, school board candidates and bond measure supporters may finally be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

In the latest vote totals released Friday in Fresno County, Wilma Tom Hashimoto is maintaining her lead in the Clovis Unified Area 2 trustee race, while challenger Dan Bordona’s lead shrunk slightly in the Fresno Unified Hoover region trustee race.

Three local bond measures that were losing on Election Night but passed the 55% approval threshold in subsequent vote updates were winning as of Friday.

School and community college bond measures are required to have 55% approval to pass.

Bordona Leads Cazares by 141 Votes

The tightest race continues to be in Fresno Unified’s Hoover region, where Bordona has a 141-vote lead, with 50.51%, to incumbent Claudia Cazares’ 49.48%. Bordona is a retired teacher whose campaign received significant support from the Fresno Teachers Association and other union groups. Cazares, an analyst for the city of Clovis, is seeking her third term on the Fresno Unified School Board.

Cazares told GV Wire earlier this week that if the race tightened, she would confer with family before deciding whether to seek a recount.

In the Clovis Unified Area 2, which includes northeast Fresno and north Clovis, Hashimoto is still on top with 41.87%. Hashimoto is executive director of CASA of Fresno Madera Counties. Molly DeFrank, an author who was seeking to replace her husband David in the Area 2 seat, has 39.53%, and Janet Kardashian, a retired teacher, has 18.61%.

David DeFrank opted not to seek reelection after serving one term.

Bond Measure Elections

In the bond measure elections, State Center Community College District’s $698 million Measure Q is winning with 55.41% approval. The measure’s success largely depends on Fresno County voters, the largest bloc in the four-county region. After initially polling under 55%, Measure Q passed the 55% threshold 10 days after the Nov. 5 election.

Measure Q has 55.98% in Fresno County, 56.83% in Tulare County, 51.77% in Madera County, and 27.51% in Kings County, which accounts for only a few hundred votes.

State Center Chancellor Carole Goldsmith said late Friday that based on the newest vote totals, it “looks very promising.”

Clovis Unified’s $400 million Measure A, which was losing on Election Night and didn’t hit the winning column until two days after the election, grew its lead to 57.40%. The district in effect declared victory earlier this week when Superintendent Corrine Folmer thanked voters and supporters in a news release.

Sanger Unified’s $175 million saw its approval margin increase slightly to 57.40%.

Next Updates

Fresno County’s next update will be Wednesday. The county Elections Office estimates 5,590 ballots remain to be processed and is awaiting 4,800 signature cure letters from voters whose signatures are being double-checked.

Tulare County may issue an update on Monday, Kings County on Wednesday, and Madera County on Dec. 2.

Votes are not final until they are certified by each county’s Elections Office and submitted to the state.