A campaign mailer is accusing a Fresno City Council candidate of statutory rape from more than 30 years ago. He says the claim is “completely false.”

The mailer sent to voters for the March 18 special election for the District 5 seat vacated by Luis Chavez makes the accusation that candidate Brandon Vang “engaged in the alleged statutory rape of a 15-year-old girl.”

The mailer includes an image of a 1993 court document, when Fresno County sued Vang, establishing paternity, and to pay child support. Vang was 20 when the child was born.

A child with that same name and birthdate, now 31, is listed in the Vang household, according to voting records.

Vang: ‘False Claims Used as Political Attacks’

Vang, who is a Sanger Unified School District trustee, denied the allegations.

“I want to be clear — these allegations are completely false and deeply hurtful. I have always prioritized my family’s well-being and integrity,” Vang said in a statement.

“The child support case mentioned in the flyer involves my wife of 30 years and our son, who has lived with me his entire life. It’s disheartening to see false claims used as political attacks, but I remain committed to honesty and serving our community with transparency.”

Vang was not immediately available to answer follow-up questions.

“Our campaign will pursue all legal options to expose those behind these misleading and false mailers and hold them accountable for violating campaign finance laws,” said Pedro Ramirez, who is Vang’s campaign manager.

“These individuals are hiding behind sham organizations funded by dark money special interests. The public deserves full transparency on who is financing these political attack ads to protect the integrity of our local elections and ensure they remain fair, open, and free from outside interference.”

Related Story: With Immigrant Backgrounds, Vang, Leon Barraza Seek Fresno Council Seat

No Documents for Group Behind the Mailer

The name listed on the mailer, Fresno Future Forward, does not appear to have an online presence. It says it is “not authorized by a candidate or candidate’s committee.” The address listed on the mailer is for a UPS Store in downtown Fresno.

A postal code on the mailer indicates it was printed and mailed by Professional Print & Mail, Inc., a Fresno company that several local campaigns use. The company confirms that postal code is unique to them.

Sherry Yang, spokesperson with the state Fair Political Practices Commission, said generally, any group spending $1,000 a year on independent expenditures fall under the state Political Reform Act. The city of Fresno would be responsible for enforcing at the local level.

City Attorney Andrew Janz said he has not received any complaints about Fresno Future Forward. City code, he said, gives his office “broad authority” to take legal action, including fines.

Fresno Future Forward has no independent expenditure campaign spending documents filed with the city of Fresno.

“An ‘independent expenditures’ is a payment for a communication that expressly advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified California state or local candidate – and the communication is not coordinated with or ‘made at the behest’ of the affected candidate or committee,” Yang said.

Generally, Yang added, disclosures are required on the advertisement.

Campaign consultants GV Wire spoke with said the cost to campaign mailers to residents varies, depending on how many voters received the material. One expert said it could cost $15,000 to send a mailer to all voters in the district. Printing alone, another consultant said, could reach $1,000.

Only two groups have filed paperwork with the city specific to the March 18 special election — Valley Forward Action Fund, and Outfront Media — both in support of candidate Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas.

Valley Forward Action Fund received major contributions from the Fresno Teachers Association PAC for Education ($4,000), and the United Food and Commercial Workers 8 Golden State PAC Small Contributor Committee ($10,000).

Outfront Media supplied more than $5,000 in billboards for Jonasson Rosas.

The National Association of Realtors has a website in support of Jonasson Rosas, with a disclosure, and an NAR Fund spokesperson said the group has filed an independent expenditure report with the Fresno city clerk.

Do Negative Mailers Work?

Thomas Holyoke, political science professor at Fresno State, has doubts on whether negative campaign materials work.

“For the most part, those mailers are not that effective because people are generally pretty distrustful of anything they hear about politics,” Holyoke said.

“They can, however, do two things. First, for people who are already inclined to believe what the mailer says, it is reinforcing and might push those people to further spread the negative (and perhaps untrue) message. The other thing they can do is put some doubt in the minds of voters who do not pay much attention to politics and elections. Sometimes, a little doubt in a few people is all you need to switch enough votes to swing an election.”

Jonasson Rosas Says She’s Not Involved With the Mailer

Jonasson Rosas  said she has no involvement with the mailer.

“I’m focused on my qualifications, proposals, and the future of D5 the resident want to see,” Jonasson Rosas said via text.

A third candidate, Jose Leon Barraza, did not respond to GV Wire’s request for comment before publication of this story.

Chavez, who is married to Jonasson Rosas, declined to comment about the mailer to GV Wire. As an incumbent, Chavez defeated Vang for the council seat in 2022, winning 55% of the vote.

Documents Marked ‘Confidential’ by the Court

A source sent GV Wire a copy of the front page of the 1993 lawsuit. Although the document is listed on the Fresno County court system website, a physical copy at the archive building is not available. A clerk said the file is marked confidential, thus not available to the public.

The Fresno County District Attorney’s office said its system shows no criminal record for Vang.

California law currently defines statutory rape as “Unlawful sexual intercourse is an act of sexual intercourse accomplished with a person who is not the spouse of the perpetrator, if the person is a minor. For the purposes of this section, a ‘minor’ is a person under 18 years of age and an ‘adult’ is a person who is 18 years of age or older.”

The law in the early 1990s still set the age of consent at 18, with the spousal exception. Since then, the law removed gender-specific language, and crafted more severe punishment for a larger age gap between perpetrator and victim.

About the Election

Vang is one of five candidates seeking to succeed Chavez  as the city’s southeast representative. Chavez left the council in the middle of his term after winning election to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors in November.

Like Vang, Jonasson Rosas is a trustee, serving on the Fresno Unified School Board as the Roosevelt High area representative.

Others running include Paul Condon, and Nicholas Wildstar as a write-in.

The front and back of a mailer sent to Fresno City Council District 5 residents making accusations against Brandon Vang.