This September 2026 Facebook ad paid for by CA Youth Power PAC, sponsored by PowerCA Action, is drawing controversy.
Screenshot from Facebook
Did a group running a Facebook campaign ad attacking Fresno City Council candidate Nav Gurm manipulate a photograph to make his face look darker?
The ad from PowerCA Action, through CA Youth Power PAC, pictures the District 7 candidate with a thought bubble that reads, “Thank you for the campaign money,” alongside a PG&E logo. The tagline says, “Nav Gurm isn’t one of us. That’s why corporations back him.”
Gurm is running for the District 7 seat to represent east central Fresno against community activist Ariana Martinez Lott, who is endorsed by PowerCA Action.
He said the ad deployed “racist dog whistles.” And he defended his campaign-finance strategy.
PG&E contributed $1,000 to Gurm in 2024. Martinez Lott and others say the contribution demonstrates that Gurm is more aligned with outside corporate interests and less with district residents and addressing their issues, such as affordability.
Gurm said his more than $200,000 in contributions have come from a “deep network of friends and family” from all walks of life.
“Ariana has spent this race lecturing about my contributions,” he said.
“I held a fundraiser in 2024 before launching my campaign and my friends who work at PG&E attended and bought tickets,” he further explained. “We have over 250 people that have donated to our campaign from farmers, doctors, lawyers, and other business owners.”
Contacted by The Bee, Martinez Lott denied the ad was racist. She had no comment about whether she felt the ad—which she has said was produced independent of her campaign—darkened or altered Gurm’s likeness. She told The Bee that she doesn’t “share that same opinion” that the ad is racist.
She said the ad’s tagline “Nav Gurm isn’t one of us” addresses his campaign contributions and issues affecting Power CA Action.
“That is what they have addressed in this ad. Nav has yet to, in public forums, actually address that question when people are asking how we can trust elected officials when they are receiving special interest dollars. So I think the public does have the right to hear his answer instead of his continued pivots,” she said.
“He’s getting money from special interests that are impacting people’s everyday lives when it comes to them not being able to afford basic things like rent, housing, and rising costs of utilities,” she said. “So let’s actually be able to have honest conversations about that because we’re getting distracted by all these other accusations,” Martinez Lott said.
Martinez Lott earlier condemned a Survey Monkey poll to District 7 voters that asked general questions about whether survey respondents would support a candidate who is 26 or who wears a turban — both describe Gurm. It’s unclear who commissioned that survey, and Survey Monkey told The Bee it is investigating the issue and would not comment further.
PowerCA Action is the lobbying arm of the nonprofit Power California — a group advocating for youth-oriented issues. On its Facebook page, the group describes its mission as building “the power of young people of color and their families to participate and lead systems of government at all levels.”
The group’s Fresno-based campaign director, Marisa Moraza, referred The Bee to the Power California’s legal team.
Leilani Rudow Beaver, an attorney representing the PowerCA Action, said in an email reply: “CA Youth Power PAC, Sponsored by PowerCA Action, complies with all California campaign finance laws. … PowerCA Action does not have any comment regarding other matters.”
Fresno political consultant Jason Carns, who has managed several local campaigns, wrote in a Facebook post that he thinks the ad is racist.
Fresno City Council candidate Nav Gurm calls a recent Facebook attack ad “racist.” The original Fresno Bee image from June 2, 2026, is above. The Power CA Action ad is below. Eric Zamora The Fresno Bee
“Here is a group funded by a bunch of rich elites that is typically lecturing us about diversity, darkening the skin of the Sikh candidate and saying he is not one of us. This is nothing but racist vile garbage. They are the ones who are not one of us,” Carns wrote in the post.
The uncredited image in the ad appears similar to one taken by a Fresno Bee photographer at Gurm’s June 2 primary election night party. A change in the tinting of the image in the ad forms the basis of the allegation that Gurm’s skin has been darkened. If this is The Bee’s image, it appears to have been used and altered without The Bee’s permission.
Data from Facebook shows PowerCA Action with four different buys for the same anti-Gurm ad, each costing less than $100 for a range of 3,000 to 8,000 impressions as of Friday morning. The ads ran from Sept. 25 to Oct. 1.
Campaign financial records through June 30 show PowerCA Action supporting Martinez Lott through independent expenditures and coordinated spending. Its PAC, CA Youth Power PAC, filed a report with the city of Fresno on Thursday, showing $1,189 spent from Sept. 25 to Sept. 30 on anti-Gurm digital ads.
The filing came days after a complaint was filed with the city and the state Fair Political Practices Commission that the group failed to file its spending paperwork.
Fresno City Council District 7 candidate Nav Gurm, center, is seen during a campaign gathering at Sequoia Brewing in the Tower District Tuesday night, June 2, 2026, in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com
This story was originally published October 2, 2026 at 2:07 PM.
The Fresno Bee
David joined The Fresno Bee in 2026 as Civic Watchdog Reporter. He covers elected officials from the Central Valley and the ins and outs of local elections and politics. David also keeps a sharp eye on how your local tax dollars are spent. David previously worked at GV Wire for 10 years. Born in Los Altos, California, David graduated from the University of Michigan and has lived in Fresno for two decades with his family.