{"id":475709,"date":"2026-09-25T21:04:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T21:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/475709\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T21:04:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T21:04:11","slug":"whos-funding-fresno-city-council-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/475709\/","title":{"rendered":"Who\u2019s funding Fresno City Council candidates?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A fresh batch of campaign finance reports have been filed for candidates running for Fresno City Council in Districts 1, 3 and 7.<\/p>\n

Candidates have just five weeks left to pitch themselves to voters ahead of the Nov. 3 General Election. Vote by mail ballots are expected to be sent out in the first week of October.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how much each candidate has raised in 2026, how much they pulled in the most recent reporting period \u2014 July 1 to Sept. 19 \u2014 and how much they have left in the bank.<\/p>\n

District 1: Rob Fuentes and Naindeep Singh<\/p>\n

Rob Fuentes raised $52,000 over the past two and a half months, $119,946 total in 2026, and he has $39,416 left in the bank.<\/p>\n

Most of Fuentes\u2019 recent financial support came from labor groups, as well as some real estate companies and the current District 1 Councilmember, according to the report.<\/p>\n

Contributions of note from the most recent reporting period include:Perea for Assembly 2026: $4,000California Apartment Association PAC: $2,500Central Valley Council: $2,000Cook Land Company: $2,000Fresno Firefighters Legislative Action Committee: $5,000Fresno Teachers Association PAC for Education: $5,000Plumbers and Pipefitters UA Local 246: $5,900Brooke Ashjian, chair of the Valley Watchdogs Political Action Committee: $1,000Richard Spencer, president of Spencer Enterprises, Inc, and his wife each contributed $5,900<\/p>\n

Naindeep Singh raised $82,821 over the past two and a half months, $184,407 total in 2026 and has $84,005 left in the bank.<\/p>\n

Most of the recent financial contributions to Singh\u2019s campaign came from individuals, such as lawyers, physicians and business owners. His campaign also pulled in financial support from labor groups, according to the report. Singh raised the most funds of all the city council candidates in 2026.<\/p>\n

Contributions of note from the most recent reporting period include:Fresno City Employees Association PAC: $5,900United Food and Commerical Workers 8 Golden State PAC: $5,900Bal Family Farms: $1,000<\/p>\n

Singh and Fuentes are running to succeed Annalisa Perea for the seat that represents a large portion of northwest and west-central Fresno, including parts of the Tower District, areas west of Highway 99 and the Fresno High area.<\/p>\n

\"Fresno Fresno City Council District 1 candidates Rob Fuentes, left, and Naindeep Singh, right, during a Fresno City Council forum, Friday, April 17, 2026 in downtown Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com District 3: Joaquin Arambula and Keshia Thomas<\/p>\n

Joaquin Arambula raised $38,813 in the past two and a half months, $116,261 total in 2026 and has $29,299 left in the bank.<\/p>\n

Most of Arambula\u2019s recent financial support came from labor groups and individuals. He also received some recent contributions from family members, according to the report.<\/p>\n

Contributions of note from the most recent reporting period include:District 3 Fresno Councilmember Miguel Arias: $500Beal Developments: $500City of Fresno Professional Employees Association PAC: $2,500Fresno City Employees Association PAC: $5,900Fresno Teachers Association PAC: one contribution of $4,100, another of $900United Food and Commercial Workers 8 Golden State PAC: $5,000<\/p>\n

Keshia Thomas raised $22,874 in the past two and a half months, $61,239 total in 2026 and has $31,970 left in the bank.<\/p>\n

Most of Thomas\u2019s recent financial support came from political action groups as well as some labor groups and politicians, according to the report.<\/p>\n

Contributions of note from the most recent reporting period include:Fresno, Madera, Kings & Tulare Counties Building Trades Council, Afl-Cio Cope Committee: $5,900Black Women Organized for Political Action Fresno and SJV PAC: $3,000Perea for Assembly 2026: $2,000National Women\u2019s Political Cacus of Fresno PAC: $1,000Fresno County Democratic Women\u2019s Club: $950Soria for Sentae 2026: $500Blue Ocean Development America: $2,500Plumbers and Pipefitters U.A. Local #246 Cope Committee: $5,900<\/p>\n

Arambula and Thomas are running to succeed Miguel Arias, who will term out. The district covers central, southwest, and west areas of the city, including Downtown, Chinatown, the parts Tower District and Edison.<\/p>\n

\"Fresno Fresno City Council candidates Keshia Thomas, left, and Joaquin Arambula. Fresno Bee File District 7 candidates Nav Gurm and Ariana Martinez-Lott<\/p>\n

Nav Gurm raised $28,369 in the past two and a half months, $161,028 total in 2026 and has $20,563 left in the bank.<\/p>\n

Most of Gurm\u2019s recent donors are labor groups. A political action committee he co-founded,<\/a> a real estate company and a current councilmember also contributed, according to the report.<\/p>\n

Contributions of note from the most recent reporting period include:Youth Save Democracy: $5,900Fresno Teachers Association PAC: $2,500Fresno Police Officers Association PAC: $5,900Richard F. Spencer and Affiliates: $5,900Brooke Ashjian, chair of the Valley Watchdogs Political Action Committee: $1,000Perea for Assembly 2026: $2,500<\/p>\n

Ariana Martinez-Lott raised $38,891 in the past two and a half months, $97,092 total in 2026 and has $33,636 left in the bank.<\/p>\n

Most of the recent financial contributions to Martinez-Lott\u2019s campaign came from individuals, such as teachers and retirees. Her campaign also pulled in some donations from political action groups and labor groups, according to the report.<\/p>\n

Some contributions of note from the most recent reporting period include:National Women\u2019s Political Cacus: $1,000Fresno City Employees Association PAC: $5,900Fresno County Democratic Women\u2019s Club: $950VOICE – International Union of Operating Engineers Stationary Engineers Local No. 39: $3,000The California Women\u2019s List: $500<\/p>\n

Gurm and Martinez-Lott are running to succeed Nelson Esparza, who will term out. The district covers central and southeast Fresno, encompassing most of the Blackstone Avenue commercial corridor.<\/p>\n

\"Fresno Fresno City Council candidates Ariana Martinez Lott, left, and Nav Gurm. Fresno Bee File
\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A fresh batch of campaign finance reports have been filed for candidates running for Fresno City Council in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-475709","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\/475709","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=475709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}