“I Voted” stickers. The Fresno County 2026 Primary Election takes place in June, and three candidates are vying to be named County Superintendent of Schools.
Jeff Gritchen
TNS
Two incumbents had demanding leads in their re-election bids for Madera County supervisor seats in districts 1 and 2, while Frank Bigelow was in front for the open District 5 seat as initial votes rolled in on election night.
District 1
District 1 incumbent Jordan Wamhoff had the clear early lead as initial counts came in, with 86.10% of the vote as of 10:29 p.m.
Ben Martin, a real estate broker for 20 years who now farms gourmet mushrooms and sells them to local restaurants, has received 13.87% of the vote. He was convicted and later pardoned by President Donald Trump for participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.
Wamhoff was sworn into office in January 2023 after winning 57.59% of the vote in the 2022 election. He has also worked as a Fresno police officer for the past 15 years and is the cofounder of SolarQuote Installation and Maintenance, a Fresno-based solar energy company.
District 2
District 2 incumbent David Rogers was also in a clear lead early as the early counts came in, with 64.57% of the vote.
John Chavez, who serves on the Chowchilla City Council, recieved 35.43% of the vote. He’s a former mayor, and also runs Cornaggia’s Bakery.
Rogers first took office in 2011, serving every term since. He previously served two terms as councilmember and two terms as mayor of Chowchilla before he was elected as Madera County supervisor.
District 5
While it appears Bigelow is all but certain to advance to the November general election, a major question Tuesday night was determining who, or if, another candidate will force a November runoff in the General Election.
As of 10:29 p.m. Tuesday, Navy veteran and co-owner of Summit Real Estate Melanie Barker trailed behind Bigelow, who had gained 47% of the vote, while Barker had received 25.63%.
To secure a seat, a candidate must receive over 50% of the vote Tuesday. If no one gets a majority of the vote, the top two candidates will advance to the general.
Charles “Brook” Allen, a Yosemite Unified School District Board of Trustee, was next in line with 15.89% of the vote and Mark Reed, a businessman, was last with 11.46%.
This is a developing story and will be updated as votes come in through Tuesday night.
This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 10:38 PM.