This story was originally published by Fresnoland.
It took a month after an election to find out who was behind disparaging and misleading mailers designed to sway southeast Fresno voters.
Leading up to the March 18 special election for southeast Fresno’s councilmember, a political action committee called Fresno Future Forward spent $4,439 on political mailers, accusing then-candidate Brandon Vang of having “engaged” in “statutory rape.”
Vang vehemently denied it, and no criminal charges have ever been brought against him before or after the political mailer.
However, the Fresno Future Forward PAC didn’t file required disclosure forms on time, in violation of city and state election laws, according to City Attorney Andrew Janz. He exposed the PAC with just eight days left to vote in the special election, and issued it a $1,000 fine.
One month later — well after voting ended and results came in — the PAC turned in new filings, identifying its treasurer as Alex Tavlian — a well-known Fresno-area political consultant with financial and political ties to Luis Chavez, the spouse of one of the candidates running against Vang for the District 5 council seat, Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas.
After the new filing, Janz gave Tavlian and the Fresno Future Forward PAC an extension to pay the fine. Additionally, Tavlian and the PAC are currently under investigation by California’s Fair Political Practices Commission for potentially violating California’s Political Reform Act.
Fresno City Clerk Todd Stermer told Fresnoland his office received a $1,000 business check from Park West Associates — a company run by Tavlian — on Tuesday, July 8, paying off the fine issued to Fresno Future Forward back in March. The check was signed by Tavlian.
Political science experts who spoke with Fresnoland said that voters could have squarely questioned the attack mailers, as well as who it was meant to benefit, if Tavlian’s involvement with Fresno Future Forward was transparently revealed before the March 18 special election.
Vang ended up winning the council seat, but for months, questions have lingered over whether a connection exists between Tavlian and any of Vang’s opponents in the District 5 council race. All three, including Jonasson Rosas, denied any involvement with the mailer.
PACs are separate from candidates’ campaigns, and it’s illegal for them to coordinate with each other. Jonasson Rosas said as much back in March when she denied involvement with the mailer and the Fresno Future Forward PAC.
A Fresnoland review of Jonasson Rosas’ campaign finance filings identified a maximum campaign contribution from a company that Tavlian has represented as a lobbyist. The company is also associated with Tavlian’s political clients.
Jonasson Rosas, who is a member of Fresno Unified’s Board of Trustees, declined Fresnoland’s requests for comment, saying she wasn’t focused on the past, and is “only looking forward.” She also did not respond to a list of detailed questions sent July 9, and did not explain how or why a company that Tavlian has represented in the past donated to her campaign.
Moving forward, what’s stopping political groups from spending thousands on misleading mailers designed to influence voters, all while failing to transparently reveal the individuals behind the effort — in violation of election and campaign finance laws?
Not much, according to election and political science experts who spoke to Fresnoland.
“I do think it could be repeated,” said Lisa Bryant, the chair of Fresno State’s political science department. “In fact, it might be likely because once people use a play like this, it exposes the fact that it’s possible for others to do it.”
It’s unclear whether Fresno Future Forward’s disclosure violations were inadvertent, as Tavlian has not responded to numerous requests for comment, including phone calls, text messages, emails and a list of detailed questions sent July 9. Regardless, experts who spoke with Fresnoland said the violation exposes a flaw in the city’s campaign finance disclosure system that they say remains too easy to exploit.
Bryant, who teaches a class on elections and political campaigns, said a $1,000 fine isn’t a likely deterrent and could potentially be calculated into a political consultant’s business expenses.
“If I’m willing to absorb that fine for a small little ethics violation or legal violation, then why not do this again?” Bryant told Fresnoland.
Last month, Fresno City Council President Mike Karbassi came forward with a funding request to create an election integrity unit at the Fresno City Attorney’s Office during the city’s budget process. He cited the messy special election in March as reason enough to need more accountability in Fresno’s elections.
It didn’t get funding, although the city will reevaluate that in February.
But who gave the Fresno Future Forward PAC thousands to spend on attack mailers? To this day, that’s an unanswered question.
How political donors can hide their identity in the United States
Thomas Holyoke, a Fresno State professor who researches American politics, lobbying and interest groups, said PACs tend to attract political money from donors who wish to keep their contributions private. Political action committees are separate from politicians’ campaigns, although they exist to support like-minded campaigns and attack their opponents.
“For a lot of people who don’t want to be revealed as a contributor, it’s a way to get them to donate money anyway,” Holyoke told Fresnoland. “The chances that they’ll ever get revealed are relatively small.”
Holyoke said this is common on the national level. PACs and super PACs wield millions of dollars from political donors who wish to stay anonymous. He said he isn’t surprised that strategy has trickled down to the local level.
“Success breeds imitation and on the national level, it has become relatively easy to move campaign finance money without it being seen,” Holyoke said. “Hence, dark money — that’s where the word came from.”
While PACs and super PACs are required to disclose the source of money they receive, political nonprofits and limited liability companies are not bound by the same rules. So a savvy political donor who doesn’t want to be revealed can donate money to a political nonprofit or LLC, which could then advance the money to a political cause.
A nonprofit political interest group is not required to disclose where its money comes from, according to OpenSecrets, a national research group that examines money in U.S. politics. Although political nonprofits are required to report where they donate their money, that information isn’t revealed to the public for at least a year in IRS filings.
“Because disclosure is very slow and delayed, the information frequently becomes available too late to help the public make their own decisions,” Holyoke said.
There’s even less transparency for LLCs and shell companies, according to OpenSecrets. Dark money in this context refers to when large political donations can only be traced back to a political nonprofit or LLC, instead of the original donor.
This type of political activity is legal in the United States, but that doesn’t mean it’s transparent with the American public in the middle of an election.
“It is not transparent. It’s not intended to be transparent,” Holyoke said. “This is why we call it dark money, because we don’t know where the money is coming from.”
Holyoke added that it’s concerning how Fresno Future Forward failed to disclose Tavlian’s involvement in the PAC prior to the election.
“What they did was create doubt in voters’ minds about Vang’s integrity — and this was a particularly serious accusation,” Holyoke said. “To do that and to obscure the source of the information — that is really a disturbing thing.”
Tavlian’s involvement with Fresno Future Forward wasn’t his first political rodeo.
He has either run or assisted political campaigns for Mike Karbassi, Garry Bredefeld, Buddy Mendes, Nathan Magsig, Roger Bonakdar and Jerry Dyer’s 2020 mayoral campaign. Additionally, Tavlian has worked on campaigns for the Fresno Teachers Association, as well as Measure T in Madera County and Clovis Unified’s Measure A school bond.
Back in 2021, Tavlian controversially redrew Fresno County’s districts, which the Fresno County Board of Supervisors approved. A majority of the board at the time were either current or past political clients of Tavlian.
Tavlian also wrote an article in June 2024 on his partisan news website about his political client Jordan Wamhoff, a Madera County supervisor, without disclosing his political and financial ties to him.
Why experts say voters were misled in southeast Fresno
For years, one of Tavlian’s companies has been on the payroll of county supervisor and former city councilmember Luis Chavez, who is also married to Jonasson Rosas. While Chavez was on the Fresno City Council, his office inked at least four contracts — worth $290,000 — with Local Government Strategic Consulting, another firm run by Tavlian.
“I think the focus is on, understandably, Chavez, but ultimately, the question is, who was Tavlian trying to get elected?” Bryant told Fresnoland. “What was the point in getting Vang knocked out of the race, and was that because of historic ties with Chavez?”
Like Jonasson Rosas, Chavez declined Fresnoland’s requests for interviews. Chavez also did not respond to a list of detailed questions sent July 9, and didn’t share any information about his relationship with Tavlian.
Both Fresno State experts said voters should have known of Tavlian’s involvement in Fresno Future Forward before casting ballots.
Bryant said Fresno Future Forward’s filings raise questions about whether there was a deliberate attempt to not disclose Tavlian’s involvement with the PAC’s mailers. Questions, again, that Tavlian did not answer.
“That does make it seem a little bit more like an ethics question — was that done intentionally in order to make people think there was not a connection between one of the candidates in the race and a strategist?” Bryant asked.
“The natural inclination one might have is to assume that this was arranged by Elizabeth (Jonasson Rosas) or by her husband or both,” Holyoke said. “Doesn’t mean it’s true, but that might be the natural association people make.”
A Fresnoland investigation found that Fresno Future Forward’s mailer wasn’t the first misleading political mailer campaign that Tavlian had his hands in.
How a Tavlian-run company was involved in a misleading mailer last fall
Back in October, a runoff election between Chavez and Sal Quintero for the District 3 county supervisor seat was heating up. A PAC called Neighborhoods for Government Integrity and Accountability Action, specifically created to oppose Quintero’s bid for reelection, sent out mailers to District 3 residents, accusing Quintero of standing with MAGA Republicans.
It also falsely stated that Quintero “didn’t say a single word in opposition” when the Fresno County Board of Supervisors “banned books” in libraries, despite the fact that Quintero was one of two supervisors who voted against the proposal, and he did so after questioning its purpose in November 2023.
“There were a lot of falsehoods that were put on that mailer,” Quintero told Fresnoland in a recent interview. “I didn’t give up. I knew what they were doing, but how are you going to counter lies like that?”
While the NGIAA PAC never registered with Fresno County, it did register with the State of California. In total, the PAC gave $7,626.12 to a Tavlian-run firm called Park West Associates to send out the attack mailers.
Tavlian specifically uses Park West Associates for political campaign consulting services. That’s why the firm shows up in his clients’ campaign filings, including Bredefeld, Karbassi, Bonakdar and Wamhoff.
The print shop that Tavlian’s Park West Associates used for the anti-Quintero mailers is located near downtown Fresno, according to PAC filings reviewed by Fresnoland. Park West Associates used that same shop to send out mailers for Tavlian’s other clients — including Bredefeld and Bonakdar — all during the same November 2024 election cycle.
“As long as there’s no accountability and punishment, it’s going to continue,” Quintero said.
Quintero also drew parallels between the mailers attacking him last fall and the mailers attacking Vang earlier this year.
“If you look at Luis’s wife’s (Jonasson Rosas’) campaign, the same thing happened there,” Quintero said.
In December, just two months after Tavlian’s Park West Associates sent out mailers attacking Chavez’s opponent Quintero, Chavez’s District 5 city council office awarded a $100,000 contract to Tavlian’s Local Government Strategic Consulting.
Chavez did not respond to questions from Fresnoland, including about why he gave a government contract to one of Tavlian’s companies with less than a month left as southeast Fresno’s councilmember.
Chavez was already on his way out after a successful bid for District 3 county supervisor, so the new contract’s invoices would’ve had to be fulfilled by the next District 5 councilmember. But by then, Jonasson Rosas had already filed the paperwork to run for her husband’s old city council seat.
What’s an Orange County company doing in Fresno politics?
When the Neighborhoods for Government Integrity and Accountability Action PAC got involved in the District 3 county supervisor race, it spent thousands on mailers.
But where did the PAC’s money come from? Most of it — $10,000 — came from an Orange County company called FrontPoint Partners, LLC, according to state PAC filings.
Despite being located some 260 miles away, FrontPoint Partners, LLC isn’t a new name in Fresno-area politics. In the past, Tavlian has registered with the City of Fresno as a lobbyist representing the company.
FrontPoint Partners, LLC has also aided the campaigns of Tavlian’s clients.
In the case of Bonakdar’s unsuccessful bid for the District 6 council seat last year, his campaign paid FrontPoint Partners, LLC to secure television airtime, according to campaign filings. Tavlian’s Park West Associates ran Bonakdar’s campaign last year.
FrontPoint Partners, LLC also gave a maximum donation — $5,500 — to Jonasson Rosas in her bid for District 5 councilmember.
“It is not at all unusual for the lobbyist to make a recommendation to the company on how they should distribute their campaign money, or even if they should give campaign money,” Holyoke said.
A number of different parties are involved here, but FrontPoint Partners, LLC appears to be the nexus. The company was represented by Tavlian as a lobbyist and is associated with his political clients. The company has also used its political money to donate to Jonasson Rosas’ campaign and fund misleading mailers attacking at least one of Chavez’s political opponents.
Holyoke said this mirrors what he has seen on the national level. He said FrontPoint Partners, LLC’s political activity is consistent with the characteristics of dark money groups.
“It seems like, because again we don’t know, what FrontPoint Partners, LLC is doing is consistent with dark money,” Holyoke said. “It appears to be a shell company to move money around, to collect money from who knows where, and then funnel that money to favored candidates.”
As in the case of the Fresno Future Forward PAC, who gave FrontPoint Partners, LLC $10,000 before it went to a PAC attacking Quintero last fall? That is also an unanswered question and it’s unlikely that will change.
“It is very clear that the public has a right to know where it’s coming from and how it’s being used,” Holyoke said. “What’s going on here, it seems like it’s deliberately orchestrated to circumvent that — to make it impossible to know where this money’s coming from.
“I think it sounds like the very essence of dark money.”