Initial results: Karbassi and Pacheco lead in District 1

The Fresno County supervisor race for District 1 remained tight on Tuesday for the top two spots who appear to be headed to a run-off in November.

Candidates Mike Karbassi and Maria Pacheco led the crowded race of six hopefuls. Karbassi, who sits on the Fresno City Council, had 35.10% of the vote and Pacheco, the mayor of Kerman, had 26.55% in the initial reporting.

The Fresno County Elections Office reported the first 14,227 votes counted after polls closed at 8 p.m. District 1 has 92,456 registered voters, according to the office.

If any candidate gets 50% plus one of the vote they win the race outright without going to a runoff. If no one reaches that bar, the top two vote-getters go to the November general election.

Karbassi, who organized a convincing win in a special election in 2019 to join the City Council, said Tuesday he was “grateful” and believed his message to voters landed. The numbers looked to be “about what we expected,” he said.

“We’ve had a pretty good lead with the first count,” he said in a phone interview from his home. “I think that there was obviously a positive response, even on the west side, to just being more issues focused. A lot of our mailers and approach was all about fixing illegal dumping and copper wire theft, water for farming and clean water and street racing. So a lot of the issues I think people are concerned about.”

The night’s final update about 11:15 p.m. made only minor changes to the percentage tallies for each candidate.

The supervisor district that is made up of mostly the western part of the county has been represented for about a dozen years by Supervisor Brian Pacheco, who said he would not run for re-election and instead focused on the state Assembly seat in the 27th District.

Maria Pacheco, who is not related to the outgoing supervisor, said she believed her chances were good that she’d be in the November runoff. After attending a watch party in the Tower District in Fresno, she said she planned to watch the numbers roll in at a friend’s home in Fresno.

“I’m feeling optimistic, very hopeful, looking forward to seeing what the next numbers bring,” she said in a phone interview. “(I’m) looking forward to serving my community, and looking forward to advancing to November.”

Pacheco was the first Latina and Indigenous person to hold the mayor’s office in Kerman, and was a senior field representative for Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, D-Fresno. She said she believed voters were responding to her education, experience and record as a public servant.

In the third position was Eric Payne, the executive director of the nonprofit organization The Central Valley Urban Institute, who garnered 11.08%. He held a slight lead over three others in the race.

Payne said in a text message his chances hung on some 5,000 votes he expected to come in from precincts in west Fresno.

“Between the two updates tonight my percentage gap has closed in on Maria’s with rural community (precincts) counted,” he wrote in a text message. “If I can cut into Pacheco’s lead by even 200–300 votes in that update, the runoff conversation becomes much more serious.”

Omar Hernandez, a farmer and West Hills Community College District trustee since he won in 2024, had 10.51%.

Mendota Unified School District Board of Trustees Lupe Flores received 10.07%.

Firebaugh Councilmember Felipe Perez had the fewest votes in the race with 6.35%.

Mike Karbassi, candidate for the District 1 seat on the Fresno County board of supervisors. Karbassi campaign photo mikeforfresno.com Mayor of Kerman, Maria Pacheco, is running for the Fresno County Supervisor District 1 seat in the 2026 primary election. PROVIDED: MARIA PACHECO Eric Payne, the executive director of the nonprofit organization The Central Valley Urban Institute, is running for the Fresno County Supervisor District 1 seat in the 2026 primary election. PROVIDED: ERIC PAYNE

This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 9:06 PM.

Tags: