Riley Talford overtook longtime Fresno Unified trustee Valerie Davis in updated election returns Tuesday, while incumbent Genoveva “Veva” Islas narrowed challenger Karen Steed’s lead to 249 votes.

Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias maintained a substantial advantage in the five-candidate Edison High region race as Fresno County’s overall ballot count increased from 166,720 to 230,461.

Talford Moves Ahead of Davis

Talford leads the Area 3 race representing the Sunnyside High region with 4,180 votes, or 50.72%, compared with Davis’ 4,016 votes, or 48.73%. Write-in candidates accounted for 46 votes.

The latest totals put Talford ahead by 164 votes, reversing Davis’ 77-vote advantage in GV Wire’s Nov. 5 update. The shift represents a 241-vote swing in the margin.

Davis has served on the board for 22 years. Talford is a supervising juvenile correctional officer for Fresno County Probation and president of SEIU 521 Fresno County. His campaign received backing from the Fresno Teachers Association and SEIU.

Islas Narrows Steed’s Lead

Steed remained ahead in the Area 4 race representing the McLane High region with 2,664 votes, or 36.54%.

Islas followed with 2,415 votes, or 33.13%, while Mirna Garcia had 2,177 votes, or 29.86%. Another 34 votes went to write-in candidates.

Steed’s advantage over Islas narrowed by 138 votes from the 387-vote margin reported Nov. 5. Islas widened her lead over Garcia from 68 votes to 238.

Steed, a former teacher, finished second to Islas in 2022. Islas was first elected in 2018.

Arias Expands His Advantage

Arias led the Area 1 race with 2,322 votes, or 39.20%, putting him 1,241 votes ahead of retired educator Daren Miller.

Miller had 1,081 votes, or 18.25%, followed by Rizpah Bellard with 913 votes, or 15.41%; Michelle Escobar Longoria with 871 votes, or 14.71%; and Deshunna Monay Ricks with 723 votes, or 12.21%. Write-in candidates received 13 votes.

Bellard moved into third place ahead of Longoria, reversing their positions in the Nov. 5 returns. Arias’ lead over Miller grew from 886 votes. The candidates are seeking to succeed Keshia Thomas.

The updated results list all precincts as reporting in each race. That designation does not mean every ballot has been counted.

An estimated 38,759 ballots remained to be counted countywide, down from 102,500 at the previous update. The number remaining to be counted in each Fresno Unified race was not specified.

—

Connect with Anthony W. Haddad on social media. Got a tip? Send an email.