# Fresno City Council, District 1 Compare records and positions simply between Naindeep Singh or Rob Fuentes for Fresno City Council, District 1 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person would hold one of Fresno's seven district-elected City Council seats. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. Fresno is California's fifth-largest city, with about 555,600 residents. Fresno's Mayor is elected separately under the city's strong-mayor charter. The Mayor is not on this cycle's ballot. This seat is open. None of the cycle's three sitting district incumbents filed to run again. - Jurisdiction: City of Fresno - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/fresno-council-1 - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: October 6, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 81 out of 100 (Strong), across 8 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Naindeep Singh** — Nonprofit Director/Trustee - **Rob Fuentes** — Educator/College Trustee A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. This is an open seat. Naindeep Singh is a Central Unified School Board trustee and a nonprofit executive. He faces Rob Fuentes, a civil-rights attorney and State Center Community College District board president. Singh led a multi-candidate primary on June 2, 2026. He took 38.69% to Fuentes's 36.52%, per GV Wire. The top two meet here in the November 3, 2026 general. Whoever gets more votes wins outright. This person would hold Fresno's District 1 seat on a 7-member, district-elected City Council under the city's strong-mayor charter. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use for California's fifth-largest city, home to roughly 555,600 residents. Fresno's Mayor (Jerry Dyer) is elected separately and isn't on this cycle's ballot. This dataset found no source confirming this seat's exact term length or the city's council term-limit provision; GV Wire's own reporting mentions that Council President Nelson Esparza has proposed expanding the current limit, which at least confirms some limit exists today. None of this cycle's three sitting district incumbents -- Perea (District 1), Miguel Arias (District 3), and Esparza (District 7) -- filed to keep their council seat, per the county's own filing record, so all three of Fresno's Nov. 2026 council races are open seats rather than incumbent contests. ## Naindeep Singh Singh is a sitting Central Unified School Board trustee. His own campaign site says he has overseen a $300 million public-school budget. It also says he authored statewide legislation expanding bilingual services. The site describes nonprofit and workers'-rights advocacy, including action against wage theft. His filed ballot designation is "Nonprofit Director/Trustee." He led the June primary, 38.69% to Fuentes's 36.52%. His platform centers on capping utility-rate increases and stopping evictions. He also backs funding for youth-workforce pathways. A "Fresno First" policy would direct city spending locally. In his Vote411 questionnaire he describes being raised in Fresno, a career as an educator, nonprofit leader and school trustee, and a Fresno-based organization that he says has brought millions of dollars into the Valley. His three stated priorities are affordability, starting with city utility bills, where he says he would cap rate hikes, expand senior discounts and build a coalition to lower everyday costs; investing in existing neighborhoods rather than suburban sprawl, with potholes, sidewalks, street lighting and Operation CleanUp; and restoring trust through a People's Budget for District 1 that lets residents help decide spending. He opposes the Southeast Development Area plan, which he says faces a multibillion-dollar funding gap, and accuses the Dyer administration of advancing it behind closed doors. **Strengths:** Current elected service on the Central Unified board, plus a Fresno-based nonprofit, with concrete plans for a utility-rate cap and a People's Budget, by his own account. **Trade-offs:** A utility-rate cap and opposition to the Southeast Development Area plan mean giving up the new development it would bring, a cost if you favor growth at the city's edge. **Keep in mind:** His budget-oversight, legislation and fundraising claims are his own account. Per GV Wire he raised less than Fuentes this period, $5,100 to $14,850, but spent nearly $80,000 and holds more cash, $34,463 to $6,365. ## Rob Fuentes Fuentes is president of the State Center Community College District Board of Trustees. They also teach at San Joaquin College of Law. Their own site describes them as a civil-rights attorney and a lifelong Fresno resident. GV Wire's reporting describes them as a former federal prosecutor. Both descriptions exist. They have not been reconciled into a single employment history. Their filed ballot designation is "Educator/College Trustee." GV Wire reported that Fresnoland found they represented U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in habeas corpus cases. They had told Fresnoland they would support abolishing the agency. GV Wire also reported that they left that work in early July 2026. They were placed on leave by the Trump administration. They trailed Singh in the June primary, 36.52% to 38.69%. **Strengths:** elected experience as SCCCD board president. They hold a law-school teaching post. They also drew broader institutional donor support this period, including from sitting Council President Esparza. **Trade-offs:** GV Wire reported they represented ICE while advocating that the agency be abolished. That story, and their leave of absence, is a real tension against their civil-rights-law background. **Keep in mind:** They outraised Singh this period, $14,850 to $5,100, but had far less cash on hand heading into the fall, $6,365 to $34,463, after spending $35,000. ## Review notes - Rob Fuentes's own campaign site: describes him as a lifelong Fresno resident and civil-rights attorney who serves as President of the State Center Community College District Board of Trustees and teaches at San Joaquin College of Law; states his District 1 platform as cost of living, public safety, and economic development. and Naindeep Singh's own campaign site: describes him as a Fresno-raised educator and nonprofit leader, a sitting Central Unified School Board trustee who says he has managed a $300 million public-school budget and authored statewide bilingual-services legislation, plus nonprofit and workers'-rights (anti-wage-theft) advocacy; states his District 1 platform as capping utility-rate increases, stopping evictions, youth workforce-development investment, and a "Fresno First" local-spending policy. may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters -- CFMR009 "Candidate List" for the Nov. 3, 2026 Consolidated Statewide General Election (printed 8/12/2026 5:37:13PM, post-filing-deadline): lists Fresno's three City Council district contests (5061, 5063, 5067), each Vote For 1 with exactly two qualified candidates -- Naindeep Singh ("Nonprofit Director/Trustee") and Rob Fuentes ("Educator/College Trustee") for District 1; Joaquin Arambula ("Doctor/Assemblymember") and Keshia Thomas ("Fresno Unified School District Trustee") for District 3; Nav Gurm ("Attorney/Small Businessman") and Ariana Martinez Lott ("Small Business Owner") for District 7 -- and carries each candidate's filed campaign website](https://www2.fresnocountyca.gov/2850/post/2026NOV/CandidateList.pdf) 2. [Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters -- CFMR001 "Contest/Candidate Proof List," filtered to Contests on Ballot, for the Nov. 3, 2026 election (printed 8/18/2026 8:39:55AM): independently confirms all three Fresno City Council district contests as ON BALLOT, and separately lists each seat's incumbent-of-record as not among the two November candidates -- Annalisa Perea (District 1, Elected), Miguel Angel Arias (District 3, Elected), and Nelson Esparza (District 7, Elected) -- confirming all three are open seats. Candidate statement filing dates for all six November candidates fall between 8/06/2026 and 8/07/2026](https://www2.fresnocountyca.gov/2850/post/2026NOV/Contests%20on%20Ballot%20with%20Qualified%20Candidates.pdf) 3. [City of Fresno -- City Council page: names the sitting 7-member Council by district -- Annalisa Perea (District 1), Mike Karbassi (District 2), Miguel Arias (District 3), Tyler Maxwell (District 4), Brandon Vang (District 5), Nick Richardson (District 6), and Nelson Esparza (District 7, Council President)](https://www.fresno.gov/citycouncil/) 4. [Wikipedia's Fresno, California article: population 542,107 (2020 census), estimated 555,549 (2025); confirms Fresno's "Strong Mayor" form of government with Jerry Dyer as the sitting Mayor and Georgeanne White as City Manager](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresno,_California) 5. [GV Wire (a Fresno-based nonprofit newsroom) -- "What Does the Money Say About Fresno City Council Races?" by Edward Smith (published 8/4/2026, fetched and read directly): reviews each of the six November candidates' FPPC campaign-finance filings for the May 17-June 30, 2026 period, reports each candidate's June 2, 2026 primary vote share, and covers each candidate's biographical background including two documented controversies -- Joaquin Arambula's March 2026 alcohol-rehab and divorce-filing disclosures, and Keshia Thomas's ongoing defamation lawsuit -- plus, for Rob Fuentes, a summary of Fresnoland's separate reporting on his ICE-related legal work and subsequent administrative leave](https://gvwire.com/2026/08/what-does-the-money-say-about-fresno-city-council-races/) 6. [Naindeep Singh's own campaign site: describes him as a Fresno-raised educator and nonprofit leader, a sitting Central Unified School Board trustee who says he has managed a $300 million public-school budget and authored statewide bilingual-services legislation, plus nonprofit and workers'-rights (anti-wage-theft) advocacy; states his District 1 platform as capping utility-rate increases, stopping evictions, youth workforce-development investment, and a "Fresno First" local-spending policy](https://www.naindeepsingh.com) 7. [Rob Fuentes's own campaign site: describes him as a lifelong Fresno resident and civil-rights attorney who serves as President of the State Center Community College District Board of Trustees and teaches at San Joaquin College of Law; states his District 1 platform as cost of living, public safety, and economic development](https://www.robfuentes.com) 8. [League of Women Voters -- Vote411 voter guide, 'City of Fresno City Council Member, District 1' race (statewide All Races list): each candidate's self-submitted ballot designation and campaign contacts, plus answers to the League's questions -- top three priorities and qualifying background. Answers on file from Naindeep Singh. Capture in data/nov-2026/sources/vote411/fresno-council-1.json.](https://www.vote411.org/plan-your-vote) ## The rest of the ballot Fresno City Council, District 1 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "Fresno City Council, District 1 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/fresno-council-1 (sources last retrieved October 6, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.