Brandon Vang seemed poised for victory in Tuesday’s special Fresno City Council election.
Vang held 50.5% of the early vote, followed by Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas at about 34.56%, with Jose Leon Barraza holding 12.2% and Paul Condon at almost 2.5%, according to unofficial results posted shortly after 9 p.m. by the Fresno County Registrar of Voters.
Vang collected 1,859 votes to Jonasson Rosas' 1,272, while Leon Barraza picked up 449 votes and Condon carried 92.
If Vang can manage to stay above the 50% mark, he could win the open seat on the Fresno City Council outright.
At his campaign headquarters in southeast Fresno, Vang appeared celebratory before a large crowd of boisterous supporters but stopped short of declaring victory.
“We are leading, and if the trend continues – and I think it will continue – then there won’t be a runoff,” Vang told Fresnoland shortly after the first batch of votes came in. “It’s a nice position to be in.”
Despite trailing by more than 500 votes, Jonasson Rosas – a Fresno Unified trustee and deputy general manager for external affairs for the Westlands Water District – said “I feel good” after the first round of ballots posted just after 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Later in the evening, Jonasson Rosas said her team expected another vote update on Thursday; an acknowledgement of the possibility that Vang could fall below the 50% threshold, which would trigger a run off between Vang and Jonasson Rosas this summer.
Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas speaking with colleagues during the March 18 special election.
The Fresno City Council southeast seat opened up earlier this year when Luis Chavez stepped down after winning a seat on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. Chavez is married to Jonasson Rosas.
Vang's early lead comes a week after he denied allegations of statutory rape that surfaced in an election mailer. Vang and his family adamantly denied any wrongdoing while also acknowledging that he was 20 when his first child was born in 1993 and Vang’s now-wife of three decades was 15 years old.
“I think tonight is a vindication of the voters seeing through the negativity,” Vang said late Tuesday, “and who they want to represent them.”
Who is Brandon Vang?
Vang, 52, has represented the Sunnyside area on the Sanger Unified school board since 2016. He has a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
He’s worked various jobs over the years, including as a deputy probation officer when he lived in Riverside County, but more recently, he’s been a stay-at-home dad.
“I’m just your average person – average refugee boy who had to flee his homeland because of war, famine, disease,” Vang told Fresnoland earlier this year, alluding to his experience fleeing Laos at the age of 6 during the Secret War.
During the campaign, Vang expressed cautious support for a massive housing development, called for a more compassionate response to homelessness, said he supports rent control and eviction protection programs and said he opposes any new taxes on residents to address the city's looming budget shortfall.
When can we expect updated results?
The Fresno County Clerk estimated there are approximately 580 votes remaining to be counted.
The clerk will provide its next updated tally Thursday by 5 p.m.
This story was written by Fresnoland's Julianna Morano, Rob Parsons and Diego Vargas. This article first appeared on Fresnoland and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.