Brandon Vang has a majority of votes cast from Tuesday’s special election for a vacant Fresno City Council seat. But, with only 18 votes above the 50% plus one vote mark, clinching the election outright likely won’t be known for another week.

If Vang’s margin holds, a runoff election isn’t necessary. However, if the total falls below a majority, Vang — a Sanger Unified trustee — and Fresno Unified Trustee Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas will meet in a July 15 winner-take-all election.

Vang garnered 1,859 of 3,681 counted as of 9 p.m. Tuesday night, or 50.5%. Jonasson Rosas is second with 34.6%, followed by Jose Leon Barraza (12.2%), Paul Condon (2.5%), and write-in Nickolas Wildstar (0.22%).

The next update from the Fresno County election office is Thursday by 5 p.m.

Clerk/Registrar of Votes James Kus reported a total of 690 votes left to count — most, 550, from vote-by-mail ballots received on Tuesday. The total does not count any votes received in the mail through March 25. That number is not known.

Of the 690 votes, Vang would need 47% to maintain the majority.

Pedro Ramirez, Vang’s campaign manager, said they are taking a wait-and-see approach.

Both sides vow see a victory ahead if the election goes to a runoff.

“I think there is a strong chance this will go to runoff. And if this goes to runoff, I believe we will ultimately win,” said Jason Carns, campaign manager for Jonasson Rosas.

“If her campaign didn’t see the numbers yesterday … more than half, the majority of voters already voted against her decisively,” Ramirez said. He added they would likely pick up Leon Barraza and Condon voters.

Will All Votes Count?

Of the 690 votes remaining, 10 are conditional or provisional ballots, meaning people who registered late. Another 20 ballots were damaged and need to be duplicated. Kus said those totals will not be known until March 26.

Additionally, 110 ballots have signature issues — which may mean missing signatures or signatures that don’t match what is on file. Voters have until April 2 to cure those signatures.

The election department will reach out to those voters to notify them of the signature issue. Ramirez said his campaign plans to reach out to those voters at well.

“We feel pretty good that most of those folks are going to be our voters. So I think … once we get the list, we’ll probably talk to everybody,” Ramirez said.

Of the votes tabulated so far, 37 were either undervotes (blank) or overvotes (more than one selected). Those do not count toward the election total.

Election law mandates a 1% hand count tally. Because of the volume — less than 4,000 — and the city council race was the only item on the ballot, Kus said all ballots will be hand counted. That takes place next Monday starting at 9 a.m.

If any campaign, or anyone for that matter, wants to challenge a ballot, there is a formal recount process, Kus said.

“It’s something to consider (requesting a recount), depending on how close it is. But again, that is something we’ll have to evaluate based on the final results,” Carns said.

Ramirez said the Vang campaign will also consider asking a recount if it means ensuring an outright victory.

“(We’d) rather pay a couple of thousand dollars to the election department staff to do good work, right, than to waste money going into a runoff,” Ramirez said.

Kus said 204 ballots were cast in person at one of three locations. More than 100 of those were cast at the United Health Centers office at Minnewawa and Kings Canyon, which was open for Election Day only.

Kus will certify the votes by April 4. Then, the Fresno City Council will adopt the results at its April 10 meeting, Fresno City Clerk Todd Stermer said.

On April 10, either Vang will be sworn in, or the city council will set the July 15 date — elections must be called 90 days in advance and take place on a Tuesday, according to state law.

Vang Emotional at Campaign Party

Vang held his campaign party Tuesday at the house of his late father-in-law, which also doubled as campaign headquarters. Several family members attended. GV Wire spotted Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias, as well as former City Councilmember Blong Xiong at the party.

Xiong was the first of Hmong descent to serve on the council. Vang could be the second.

Around 10 p.m., Vang addressed his guests, emotionally talking about his wife, May Lee, and his late parents. His mother just recently passed away.

“I am here today because of my wife. She has been the strongest person in this campaign,” Vang said. “We’ve gone through this before, obviously, with my cancer. And I thought she was Wonder Woman. Now she’s a Superwoman.”

Earlier this month, the dark money group Fresno Future Forward sent out mailers attacking Vang, accusing him of statutory rape from 1993.

In an interview with GV Wire, Vang and May Lee said she was 15 and he was 20 when they had their first child. They married in 1995 and have been together ever since. There was never any investigation or charges of rape.

“We are stronger than we were two weeks ago. Not only as a family, but as a community, all of us,” Vang said.

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