# Fresno City Council, District 7

Compare records and positions simply between Ariana Martinez Lott or Nav Gurm for Fresno City Council, District 7 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-7
- 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

- **Ariana Martinez Lott** — Small Business Owner
- **Nav Gurm** — Attorney/Small Businessman

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

This is an open seat. Nav Gurm is an attorney and small-business owner. He faces Ariana Martinez Lott, a small-business owner and former City Hall staffer. The June 2, 2026 primary was a near-tie between the two. Gurm took 38.96% to Martinez Lott's 38.71%, 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 7 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 -- a change Martinez Lott has criticized this cycle and Gurm says he doesn't support, saying he'd rather see term limits applied to county supervisors instead.

None of this cycle's three sitting district incumbents -- Annalisa 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. Mayor Jerry Dyer has endorsed Gurm in this race, per GV Wire.

## Nav Gurm

Gurm is an attorney and a small-business owner. His own campaign site says he began volunteering at Poverello House as a child. Poverello House is a Fresno homelessness-services organization. GV Wire describes him as a former City Hall employee. His filed ballot designation is "Attorney/Small Businessman." He led the June primary by a slim margin, 38.96% to Martinez Lott's 38.71%. That is roughly a quarter of a percentage point. Mayor Jerry Dyer has endorsed him. His platform centers on cost of living, public safety, and economic development. He also runs on parks and recreation, including an annual parks survey.

**Strengths:** A City Hall employment background, per GV Wire, and the largest fundraising total of the three district races reviewed here.

**Trade-offs:** no independent reporting evaluates his record or City Hall role beyond GV Wire's brief description. His site omits his credentials and education.

**Keep in mind:** he opposes Council President Esparza's proposal to expand council term limits. He prefers term limits aimed at county supervisors instead. Weigh that against Martinez Lott's criticism of the same proposal.

## Ariana Martinez Lott

Martinez Lott is a small-business owner born in Madera to farmworker parents. She was raised in District 7 and raised her own two children there. She is a 2010 Fresno State graduate. She substitute-taught and volunteered in special-education classrooms. She then served as Community Relations Director for Council District 3, Arias's district. Her own site says she tracked infrastructure projects there. It also says she contributed to the city's Blighted Vacant Building Ordinance. Her filed ballot designation is "Small Business Owner." She trailed Gurm in the June primary, 38.71% to 38.96%. That is roughly a quarter of a percentage point. Her platform opposes the Southeast Development Area expansion. She backs a Residential Response Team for public safety and limits on local ICE collaboration. She also backs expanded affordable-housing and home-repair funding. In her Vote411 questionnaire she describes being a long-time resident of the Birney neighborhood and a mother of two, says she has led efforts to protect small businesses and vulnerable communities, and points to her work as Community Relations Director for a City Council office.

Her three stated priorities are investing in existing neighborhoods and opposing the Southeast Development Area plan, citing a growing city deficit; better roads and safer streets, including repairs, trees, lighting, transit and safe routes to school; and neighborhood-based civic engagement, with regular District 7 town halls and house meetings, partnerships with schools and advocacy groups, and efforts to get residents voting. Her third answer ends mid-list on Vote411 itself. She also says she would defend immigrant communities, back small businesses and work on long 911 response times.

**Strengths:** Direct City Hall policy and constituent-service experience through her Council District 3 role, by her own account, and deep roots in the district she would represent.

**Trade-offs:** Opposing the Southeast Development Area expansion means giving up the outward growth it would bring, a cost if you favor it. Her fundraising this period trailed Gurm's.

**Keep in mind:** she has publicly criticized Council President Esparza's proposal to expand council term limits. That is a live local issue this cycle, per GV Wire. Her account of her City Hall work comes from her own campaign materials.

## Review notes

- Nav Gurm's own campaign site: describes him as a small-business owner and public servant who began volunteering at Poverello House (a Fresno homelessness-services organization) as a child; states his District 7 platform as cost of living, public safety, economic development, and parks and recreation. and Ariana Martinez Lott's own campaign site: born in Madera to farmworker parents, one of six children, raised her own two children in District 7; a 2010 Fresno State graduate who substitute-taught and volunteered in special-education classrooms before serving as Community Relations Director for Council District 3, tracking infrastructure projects and contributing to the city's Blighted Vacant Building Ordinance; her platform opposes the Southeast Development Area expansion and includes a Residential Response Team for public safety, limits on local ICE collaboration, and expanded affordable-housing and home-repair funding. 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. [Nav Gurm's own campaign site: describes him as a small-business owner and public servant who began volunteering at Poverello House (a Fresno homelessness-services organization) as a child; states his District 7 platform as cost of living, public safety, economic development, and parks and recreation](https://www.navgurm.com)
7. [Ariana Martinez Lott's own campaign site: born in Madera to farmworker parents, one of six children, raised her own two children in District 7; a 2010 Fresno State graduate who substitute-taught and volunteered in special-education classrooms before serving as Community Relations Director for Council District 3, tracking infrastructure projects and contributing to the city's Blighted Vacant Building Ordinance; her platform opposes the Southeast Development Area expansion and includes a Residential Response Team for public safety, limits on local ICE collaboration, and expanded affordable-housing and home-repair funding](https://www.ariana4fresno.com)
8. [League of Women Voters -- Vote411 voter guide, 'City of Fresno City Council Member, District 7' 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 Ariana Martinez Lott, with her priorities answer ending mid-list. Capture in data/nov-2026/sources/vote411/fresno-council-7.json.](https://www.vote411.org/plan-your-vote)

## The rest of the ballot

Fresno City Council, District 7 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 7 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/fresno-council-7 (sources last retrieved October 6, 2026).

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