Mason Magsig is running for the Clovis City Council.

Magsig may be a political newbie, but his last name is familiar in Clovis politics. His father, Nathan Magsig, is a Fresno County supervisor representing Clovis.

The younger Magsig, 21, is the first candidate to announce his intentions for District 1 in the southwest portion of the city. The November 2026 election will be the first decided by district.

“I’m super blessed for the opportunity to live in this city, own a home in this city, and now hopefully be able to serve the constituents of District 1,” Magsig said.

After a threat of a lawsuit over the legality of at-large elections, the city council voted to divide the city into five districts. District 1 is the only district not represented by a current incumbent.

Revitalizing older neighborhoods is at the top of Magsig’s goals. He would rather develop new businesses to increase tax revenue than raise sales or property taxes.

“The people of Clovis don’t need to necessarily pay any more taxes than they already do. But we have to be able to pay for the things that this city needs and deserves,” Magsig said.

Magsig works in commercial lending at FFB. He is close to completing his studies at Western Governors University.

The elder Magsig also served on the Clovis City Council from 2001 to 2017 and is currently running for the state Senate.

Mason Magsig called his run “a full-circle moment.” His interest in politics developed in middle school. He graduated from Clovis High School in 2022.

“With my father being in politics, I’ve gotten to know a lot of these people personally, and I plan on continuing to do that because at the end of the day, this job is based on relationships,” Magsig said.

Incumbent Diane Pearce has a campaign account for a run in District 4, covering northeast Clovis. Drew Bessinger says he plans to run again and would be in District 5 in northwest Clovis.

Karbassi, Soria Settle Defamation Suit

Fresno City Council President Mike Karbassi has settled his defamation lawsuit against state Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, a Nov. 10 court record shows.

Details of the settlement are vague. A trial was set to begin Dec. 1.

“The matter has been resolved, and we have no further comment,” Karbassi and his attorney Brian Whelan told Politics 101.

The parties will return to court Feb. 25, 2026, for a formal motion to dismiss.

“The settlement agreement conditions dismissal of this matter on the satisfactory completion of specified terms … ,” a Karbassi motion said.

Both Karbassi and Soria ran for the state Assembly seat in 2022. Both are Fresno Democrats and were colleagues at the time on the Fresno City Council.

A Soria campaign mailer implied Karbassi committed assault. In reality, it was a campaign consultant hired by Karbassi who was guilty.

Karbassi sued in 2022, with Soria countersuing. After Soria won a dismissal, an appeal court sided with Karbassi, reinstating the lawsuit.

Soria won the 2022 election — Karbassi failed to advance beyond the primary — and won reelection in 2024. She is now running for the state Senate.

Representatives of Soria did not return messages.

Trump’s Media Naughty List

Not all politicians like talking to Politics 101. Elected officials have media they just aren’t friendly with and have been known to talk smack behind their backs.

Soria, in a deposition in the Karbassi case, said I’m “not a real reporter.” Soria said real reporters, like TV reporters, go to journalism school.

(For the record, I didn’t go to journalism school per se, but studied from the best, like Anthony Collings, Melba Tolliver, and Bill McEwen.)

At least President Donald Trump is public with his “naughty” list. The “Media Offender of the Week” goes after stories the White House deems wrong. It even has an “Offender Hall of Shame,” populated by The Washington Post, CBS News, CNN, and MSNBC (now MS Now).

Slow Down, Fresno

The Fresno City Council is scheduled to implement several speed limit changes at its meeting Thursday.

Several locations will either have speed limits established or lowered. The city occasionally adjusts speed limits based on engineering and traffic data, a city staff report said.

A full list can be found here.

The city council gave initial approval to the changes at its Nov. 20 meeting by a 6-1 vote. Nick Richardson voted no. Thursday’s vote is to adopt the changes.

Trump Admin Appeals Fresno Funding Case

Several federal government agencies formally appealed a judge’s preliminary injunction preventing the Trump administration from pulling funds from several Fresno programs.

The city sought and received the injunction from San Francisco-based Judge Richard Seeborg in September.

Fresno said it receives about $12 million in housing grants and nearly $250 million in transportation grants. Several other jurisdictions in California and around the nation joined the lawsuit.

On Nov. 21, the federal government appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. No hearing date has been scheduled, but briefs are due between Dec. 22 and Jan. 20, 2026.