Six candidates vie for Fresno seat in special election


The city of Fresno, California, is holding a nonpartisan special election for the District 2 seat on the city council Tuesday. A runoff election is scheduled for November 5 if no candidate wins at least 50 percent of the votes cast in the election. The candidate filing deadline was May 17. Six candidates filed in the race, including declared 2020 Congressional candidate Phil Arballo.
 
The District 2 city council seat was previously held by Steve Brandau. He was first elected to the seat in 2012. Brandau stepped down in April 2019 after winning the District 2 seat on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors in a special election on March 5.
 
The District 2 city council seat was last up for election in 2016. Brandau won re-election without opposition that year. The winner of the 2019 special election will serve the remainder of Brandau’s term, which ends in 2020. Though the seat is nonpartisan, Brandau was known to be affiliated with the Republican Party.
 
Fresno is the sixth-largest city in California and the 34th-largest city in the U.S. by population. Its city council has a total of seven members elected by district.
 
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