Fresno Councilmember Brandon Vang will seek re-election in the 2026 primary election and is expected to face challenges from three candidates to represent District 5.
PROVIDED
Fresno Councilmember Brandon Vang will seek re-election in the 2026 primary election and is expected to face challenges from three candidates to represent District 5.
The district encompasses a large portion of southeast Fresno and includes the Sunnyside area.
The primary election will take place on June 2. Fresno City Council District 1, District 3 and District 7 seats will also be on the ballot, as well as two Fresno County Supervisor seats.
The filing window for candidates seeking office in 2026 is open now through March 6 at 5 p.m.
To secure a seat, a candidate must receive over 50% of the vote in the primary election. If no one gets a majority of the vote, the top two candidates will advance to the Nov. 3 general election.
Here’s a look at who is considering running for the Fresno City Council District 5 seat in the 2026 primary election.
Fresno City Council District 5 candidates
Brandon Vang was sworn into office on April 10, 2025, becoming the first person of Hmong descent to represent District 5 and the second person in the history of Fresno’s council.
He received just over 50% of the vote in a special election.
Vang’s political consultant, Pedro Ramirez, highlighted some of his actions as Councilmember over the past year in a statement to The Bee, including:
Voting to approve a new 911 call center, police headquarters and fire station.Overseing construction of the Southeast Fresno Sports Complex.Securing over $14 million for streets and infrastructure, activated seven traffic signals, completed 12 paving projects and repaved 1.5 miles of César Chávez Boulevard.Advancing the Fancher Creek Shopping Center. Collaborating with local and state leaders to secure funding for mental health services and affordable housing options.
“Brandon will continue pushing for traffic safety improvements, sidewalk repairs, and road upgrades that protect pedestrians, improve mobility, and reduce congestion in high-traffic corridors,” Ramirez said.
Looking ahead, Vangs priorities including investing in safe streets, enhancing green spaces strengthening public safety, addressing homelessness and enhancing economic growth.
“Brandon will continue attracting responsible development, supporting small businesses, and expanding job opportunities so economic growth benefits local families and strengthens the District 5 economy,” Ramirez said.
Fresno Councilmember Brandon Vang will seek re-election in the 2026 primary election and is expected to face challenges from three candidates to represent District 5. PROVIDED
After five years as State Center Community College trustee, Danielle Parra has decided to run for the District 5 seat because “I want to see investments in Fresno that encourage people to live, start businesses, and raise their families here for generations to come,” she said in a statement to The Bee.
Her priorities include strengthening public safety, investing in core infrastructure like roads and neighborhoods and addressing homelessness through solutions that are “compassionate, practical and focused on long-term stability.”
“Fresno is growing, and we need leadership ready to shape that growth in a way that benefits the people who already call this city home,” she said.
State Center Community College trustee Danielle Parra has decided to run for the Fresno City Council District 5 seat in the 2026 primary election. PROVIDED: DANIELLE PARRA
Nickolas Wildstar is running for City Council because “Fresno needs real solutions, not empty promises.”
His campaign is focused on three core priorities, he said in a statement to The Bee.
“Reducing homelessness through practical, humane, and results-driven policies; restoring fiscal responsibility by cutting waste, increasing transparency, and making sure taxpayer dollars are spent on community needs; and making Fresno a Constitutional Sanctuary by defending civil liberties, protecting due process, and ensuring local government operates within the limits of the Constitution.”
He ran for District 5 against Vang in the 2025 special election as a write-in and has a background working in digital marketing.
“This campaign is about giving Fresno a DREAM again,” Wildstar said. “A dream of a city that is safer, freer, more accountable, and more prosperous for everyone who calls it home.”
Nickolas Wildstar is running for Fresno City Council District 5 in the 2026 primary election. PROVIDED: NICKOLAS WILDSTAR
Member of the city of Fresno’s Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission, Jose Leon Barraza, intends to face off with Vang again after receiving 12.3% of the vote in the 2025 special election against him.
Barraza is a former Fresno County economic development manager, CEO of the Southeast Fresno Community Economic Development Association and life long southeast Fresno resident.
His campaign website says that if elected, Barraza would focus on the Central Southeast Fresno Plan (CESASP) and the South Central Industrial Specific Plan (SCSP), which have both been under review for a few years.
“These planning documents offer some compelling opportunities to improve economic and quality of life improvements in Southeast Fresno. Jose would make adoption of these plans a more urgent priority.”
The website says the implementation of these plans would find tenants to fix abandoned, blighted buildings, create a business park and employment district and promote the expansion of industrial and commercial sites, among other things.
“Jose believes these projects should no longer be ignored and should be implemented right away before a new urban development is approved for the Southeast Fresno Development Area (SEDA) on vacant land outside the current Fresno City boundaries,” his website says.
Former Vida en el Valle’s editor Juan Esparza Loera, right, with Jose Leon Barraza. María G. Ortiz-Briones mortizbriones@vidaenelvalle.com
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