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<\/p>\nThe Fresno County Democratic Party announced its endorsements for local races, but its decision not to endorse in some contests left one candidate with a lot to talk about.<\/p>\n
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For Fresno City Council, the Democrats made picks in three of the four races: Rob Fuentes (District 1), Danielle Parra (District 5) and Nav Gurm (District 7).<\/p>\n
The Dems made no pick for District 3, featuring prominent Democrats Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula and Fresno Unified Trustee Keshia Thomas.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth candidates are really good and excellent. We want to give both of them an opportunity to win the favor of the people,\u201d Gidram said.<\/p>\n The local Democrats also did not make an endorsement for Fresno County Supervisor District 1, which covers the northwest part of the county. One candidate said the choice not to decide \u201cspeaks volumes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m the only African American and API candidate in the race,\u201d candidate Eric Payne wrote on his Facebook page<\/a>. \u201cLet\u2019s be clear about what this means. When the establishment stays neutral, it creates space. Space for the community. Space for the people. Space for us to decide who leads and who represents our future.\u201d<\/p>\n Payne and five other candidates are running to succeed Brian Pacheco, who is not running for re-election, opting to run for state Assembly instead. Four of the candidates are of Latino heritage (Lupe Flores, Felipe Perez, Omar Hernandez , Maria Pacheco), one is of Persian heritage (Mike Karbassi), and Payne is Black.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen there is no endorsement, it sends a message: this election will be decided by the people who show up,\u201d Payne wrote.<\/p>\n All but Flores are Democrats. Flores is a Republican.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very close race with many great candidates. It\u2019s a diverse field. I\u2019m excited to see one of them succeed,\u201d local Democratic party spokesperson Artemes Gidram said.<\/p>\n The party added, after this story was first published, \u201cthe threshold to receive an endorsement from the party is 60% of central committee members. Mathematically, it is harder to reach consensus the more crowded the field \u2026 We look forward to electing a Democrat in both seats, come June or November.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GVWire-Ad-Get-our-mobile-app-1280x90-1-1.jpg\")
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<\/a>Eric Payne reacted to the Fresno County Democratic Party endorsements on Facebook.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Michael-Erin-Woody-Headshot-300X300-150x150.jpg\")
<\/a>Michael Erin Woody<\/p>\n