The next election date for Fresno County district attorney and sheriff is up in the air.

State Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Friday that he is suing the county over Measure A, which voters passed in March.

The vote, approved by 55% of voters, changed the county’s charter to hold the DA and sheriff elections in the same year as the governor — even, non-presidential years.

Right now, the DA and sheriff races are scheduled for 2026. If Bonta prevails, they would be in 2028.

Bonta — joined in the lawsuit by California Secretary of State Shirley Weber — said this preempted a state law, which changed the DA and sheriff election dates to the same years as presidential elections.

“Our democracy works best when everyone can participate and make their voices heard,” Bonta said in a news release.

The state is seeking a writ of mandate invalidating Measure A, and a permanent injunction barring its enforcement. Filed in Fresno County Superior Court, no date has been assigned for the writ.

Said Sheriff John Zanoni, first elected in 2022: “Being up for reelection in 2026 or 2028 makes not difference to me. I am confident I will have the majority of the voters’ support in both campaign cycles.”

But, the sheriff is concerned about the deeper issue, overruling the voters.

“When we start suing over the outcome of a free and fair election just because it did not go a certain way, it takes away the power of the people and dilutes our democracy,” Zanoni said.

Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magisg, who helped author Measure A, says he is willing to defend the will of the voters.

“I do believe in local control. And, where there are issues of concern that are going to affect the voters, I think that they should have an opportunity to have their voices heard,” Magsig told GV Wire. “I’m willing to stand up and defend what the voters of Fresno County want.”

Law’s Goal Is to Boost Turnout

The state Legislature approved the change of dates with a law passed in 2022. The goal: boost turnout for the top-two county law enforcement positions.

“Ensuring that a large and more inclusive pool of voters can vote for candidates who reflect their values is a fundamental step to making democracy work,” Bonta said. “Measure A threatens to unlawfully suppress voter turnout in Fresno County’s elections for the important local offices of sheriff and district attorney.”

As part of AB 759, DAs and sheriffs elected in 2022 serve a one-time-only six-year term through 2029. Terms are normally four years.

The law created an exception for charter counties that already had the election date specified in its charter by Jan. 1, 2021. Fresno County is a charter county — meaning it has its own rules, a local “Constitution” — but did not specify the date until the March 2024 election.

Last year, in secret, the Fresno City Council directed City Attorney Andrew Janz to write Bonta a letter asking about the legality of county voters changing the date.

In a news release, Janz said he “welcomes the state inquiry since DA and Sheriff elections have a profound impact on the enforcement and prosecution of crimes in the City of Fresno.” 

County Questions Law’s Constitutionality

After this story first published, Fresno County emailed a response to the lawsuit.

“The Fresno County Board of Supervisors and voters believe the State statute is an illegal infringement on the charter powers of Fresno County and its voters and may violate other state laws by illegally extending the term of officers here and in other counties after voters have elected those officers to four-year terms,” county spokesperson Sonja Dosti said.

The argument, the county said, is voters in 2022 elected the DA and sheriff to four-year terms, and received “no notice” the legislature would vote to extend those terms, calling it “an unconstitutional overreach.”

The county said the state Constitution gives charter counties like Fresno to set the term for elected officers. It also made the argument to keep DA and sheriff elections separate from presidential years.

“Local issues and candidates can become lost in the intense campaigning that occurs during presidential cycle elections both for the office of president and the congressional and senate seats that are up for election the same time,” Dosti wrote.

Congressional elections take place every two years, and would be on the same ballot with the DA and sheriff regardless if it is in 2026 or 2028. And, the U.S. Senate election cycle takes place two out of every three even-numbered years.

“The costs to conduct a campaign are much higher during presidential cycles as down-ticket candidates must compete with national campaigns for advertising time and other campaign services, which can make running for local office prohibitively expensive for some candidates. These concerns are presumably why there is no push to move the California Governor’s election to presidential elections,” Dosti wrote.