{"id":344176,"date":"2026-06-03T05:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T05:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/344176\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T05:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T05:49:08","slug":"cantwell-copher-leads-fresno-superintendent-race-will-there-be-a-runoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/344176\/","title":{"rendered":"Cantwell-Copher Leads Fresno Superintendent Race. Will There Be a Runoff?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Incumbent Dr. Michele Cantwell-Copher held a strong lead in her effort to win re-election as Superintendent of Fresno County Schools on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

However, with 18% of the vote counted, she was short of the threshold to retain her post and avoid a November runoff.<\/p>\n

Cantwell-Copher had 42.78% support, followed by challengers Dr. Eimear O\u2019Brien at 29.47% and Dr. Johnny Alvarado at 27.38%.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

To win a race outright in the primary, a candidate must secure 50% plus one vote.<\/p>\n

Updated results are available\u00a0at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Superintendents serve four-year terms, and there are no term limits.<\/p>\n

How the Race Shaped Up<\/p>\n

In June 2022, Cantwell Copher was elected to the position with 68% of the vote, becoming the first woman to serve as Fresno County Superintendent. She launched her reelection campaign in January.<\/p>\n

In May, GV Wire discovered discrepancies<\/a> in Cantwell Copher\u2019s endorsement list with three listed individuals confirming neutrality in the race.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien, a former Clovis Unified Superintendent, declared her intent to seek office in December 2024, exiting a short-lived retirement.<\/p>\n

Her candidacy was boosted by heavyweight endorsements from former Fresno County superintendents Larry Powell and Jim Yovino, and Mayor Jerry Dyer.<\/p>\n

Alvarado announced his candidacy for Fresno County Superintendent in late August 2025 and officially kicked off his campaign in October.<\/p>\n

Alvarado touts 30 years of experience across seven school districts across Fresno County. He has worked at all levels of education, spending time as a teacher, principal, and administrative leader.<\/p>\n

However, recent reports by ABC30 have unveiled cracks in his employment history<\/a>, including separation agreements and paid administrative leave.<\/p>\n

Comparing and Fact-Checking Candidate Credentials<\/p>\n

Under Cantwell -Copher, the county saw a 4% rise in English Language Arts scores and a .21% increase in math since the 2022-23 school year.<\/p>\n

Cantwell-Copher asserts she has prioritized fiscal responsibility while in office, gaining $2 million in staffing savings and balancing school budgets.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien served as superintendent of Clovis Unified School District from 2017 until 2023, navigating pandemic-related issues.<\/p>\n

Prior to the pandemic, district scores rose about 3% in ELA and 2% in math. In 2023, when O\u2019Brien retired, scores were down about 9% and 8%, respectively, but remained far above the state average.<\/p>\n

Alvarado touted massive gains in ELA and math testing during his tenure as principal of Bullard High School post-pandemic and moderate improvements in Parlier Unified.<\/p>\n

However, he calculated the gains by \u201crelative change, which artificially inflated the results.<\/p>\n

The state and local districts measure results through percentage point changes, which leaves Alvarado with a depleted but overall positive report card.<\/p>\n

He also used his method of calculation to artificially inflate Clovis Unified performance drop under O\u2019Brien, which caused heated debate between the two candidates.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien dedicated a portion of her campaign website<\/a> to disputing these claims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Incumbent Dr. Michele Cantwell-Copher held a strong lead in her effort to win re-election as Superintendent of Fresno…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-344176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}