{"id":355323,"date":"2026-06-10T22:21:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T22:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/355323\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T22:21:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T22:21:10","slug":"fresno-county-judge-race-narrows-will-hammerschmidt-face-a-runoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/355323\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresno County Judge Race Narrows. Will Hammerschmidt Face a Runoff?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest election update in one Fresno County Superior Court judge race has added drama and a potential November runoff.<\/p>\n

The latest update, posted Tuesday night, showed Jeffrey Hammerschmidt\u2019s share of votes at 49.58%, which is below the 50% threshold to win seat No. 7 outright. If the criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor \u2014 best known, perhaps, for prosecuting the high-profile, triple homicide Dana Ewell case in the 1990s \u2014 cannot regain a majority, he\u2019ll face Jose Salazar, a public defender, in November.<\/p>\n

Salazar is second with 34.88% of the vote, followed by attorney Curtis Sok at 15.26% to The race still has about 35,000 votes left to count.<\/p>\n

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

Through May 16, Hammerschmidt had spent $81,433 on his campaign compared to Salazar\u2019s $13,568, according to the California Secretary of State website.<\/p>\n

Runoff Likely Between Paulson and Ueltzen, Too<\/p>\n

In a highly competitive race for the No. 6 seat on the bench, Ashley Paulson, a former DA\u2019s prosecutor who is the city of Fresno\u2019s chief assistant attorney and chief prosecutor, has 47.12% and Fresno County senior deputy district attorney Steven Ueltzen is at 29.84%. Public defender Deidre Adams is third (22.80%).<\/p>\n

Vote to Be 95% Complete by Thursday<\/p>\n

Fresno County Clerk\/Registrar of Voters James Kus told GV Wire that all regular vote-by-mail ballots have gone through the signature verification process. He expects the tabulation to be 95% completed by Thursday at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n

See all the updated Fresno County results at this link.<\/p>\n

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