Four candidates vying to fill vacant Fresno City Council District 5 seat

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Voters will select a new City Council representative for a large area of southeast Fresno.

District 5 voters will choose between four candidates vying for the seat.

It was left vacant after Luis Chavez left the seat in January after being elected as District Two County Supervisor.

District 5 encompasses areas of southeast Fresno, including neighborhoods along Cesar Chavez Avenue bordering Calwa to the southwest and surrounding the Sunnyside County island to the east.

Candidates include CEO of the Southeast Fresno Community Economic Development Association, Jose Leon Barraza, Fresno resident Paul Condon, Fresno Unified trustee Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas, and Sanger Unified trustee Brandon Vang.

"We could have a runoff. But if one of the candidates gets 50 percent of the ballots plus one vote, they would be declared the winner, and the city council would be able to move forward with seating that victor right away," said Fresno County Registrar of Voters James Kus.

The candidates have been in the headlines.

First, campaign mailers claimed Vang committed statutory rape leading to a 1993 pregnancy with his now wife before they were married.

He denied the claims in an interview with Action News.

"I was angry at first. I was shocked that I have been accused of rape, and I have never seen any documents relating to that," said Vang.

The District Attorney's office supported his denial, saying it has no "records that concern criminal matters" for Vang.

Then, former Fresno Unified trustee Luisa Medina and former Assemblyman Juan Arambula pointed to a district newsletter Chavez sent out before leaving office that prominently featured his wife, Jonasson Rosas.

They accused him of wrongful spending.

Chavez said in a statement "There was no district funds used for political purposes."

"Anything implied or insinuated is pure speculation and aligned with the upcoming election to fill my old seat," the statement continued.

Whether any of that mattered to the 36,000 voters in the district will be decided on Tuesday.

Voting centers and drop boxes are open until 8 p.m.

If it does go to a runoff, the top two candidates will face off in the next few months.

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