Fresno County supervisor race getting expensive

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The ads are getting more frequent as the campaign for the two seats on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors gets into its final month. Fresno State Political Science Professor Mike Lukens notes there's a lot at stake.

"It's an important race," said Lukens. "The power lines have been drawn and this may be an opportunity to re cast what the balance of power is on the supervisors so it's important to a lot of people."

Leading in contributions is Blong Xiong. The Fresno City Council member has received nearly $540 thousand in cash and other contributions so far. Most from Labor groups. His opponent in the race for the District 1 seat is Brian Pacheco, a farmer and school board member. He's received about $490 thousand most of that in cash. Most from farm, developer and business groups. His contributors include the Fresno Chamber of Commerce. Chamber Director Al Smith says no secret why who donates to whom.

Smith explained, "We are the business community, there's organized labor there's a lot of other key players here who are vying to get their guy elected and whoever winds up with the winner is going to wind up determining the policy going forward and it's probably going to be slanted toward whoever their contributors are."

The race for the District 4 seat pits farmer Buddy Mendes against Fowler City Council member and Mayor Pro Tem Daniel Parra. The latest available figures from the Fresno County Clerk's office suggest a financial mismatch. Mendes has raised nearly $340 thousand while Parra's documents show about $60 thousand in contributions so far.

All four candidates are expected to pour more money in during the final weeks, hoping to reach voters. Lukens says many don't realize how much influence these local races can have on their lives.

Lukens explained, "People like to pay attention to the race for Governor or President and there's something appealing about that but the real impact takes place at your local level your council races your supervisors and it takes money to do it."