# Fresno County Board of Supervisors, District 1 Compare records and positions simply between Mike Karbassi or Maria Pacheco for Fresno County Board of Supervisors, District 1 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person is one of five supervisors who govern Fresno County. They vote on the county budget. They also oversee health and social services. They set land use rules for unincorporated areas. - Jurisdiction: County - 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-supervisor-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: September 24, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 86 out of 100 (Strong), across 10 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Mike Karbassi** - **Maria Pacheco** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi led the June 2 primary with 32.7% and Kerman Mayor Maria Pacheco took 28.5%; four other candidates split the rest, so the top two meet again on November 3. This is the seat's first runoff since 2014. The winner joins Fresno County's five-member Board of Supervisors for a four-year term, representing the county's mostly rural northwest — Kerman, Firebaugh, Mendota, San Joaquin and part of the city of Fresno. The board sets the county budget, oversees public health and social services, and controls land use in unincorporated areas outside the county's cities. Neither candidate is the incumbent — Brian Pacheco (no relation to Maria Pacheco) is leaving the seat to run for the Assembly. Karbassi, a two-term city councilmember who just stepped down as council president, led fundraising and built a coalition spanning labor and business; Pacheco, a sitting city mayor, works as a field representative for the state legislator backing Pacheco's campaign. The choice is between two already-elected local officials, not an outsider challenge. ## Mike Karbassi Mike Karbassi represents Fresno City Council District 2, where he served two consecutive terms as council president, a stretch GV Wire noted hadn't been matched in over two decades under the council's revised rules. He stepped down from the presidency in March 2026, saying he was "excited to devote my full attention to campaigning for a better Fresno County" while keeping his council seat through 2029 (GV Wire). His campaign says he led efforts to bridge divisions with county government on cost of living and housing. "We built a coalition of business, labor and law enforcement. People are tired of talk and want to see results," Karbassi said of his campaign (GV Wire). In August, he criticized City Attorney Andrew Janz's announcement that city prosecutors could carry firearms off duty, saying it came before a formal ordinance was ready: "We don't have all our ducks in a row and there will likely be public backlash. It was a stupid move" (GV Wire). Janz responded that his prosecutors don't work in city-owned facilities, so the city's weapons policy didn't apply to them. His campaign promises to maintain public safety response times and continued investment in public safety (campaign site). On homelessness, he promises continued focus on moving people into housing and treatment programs, and his campaign credits him with cutting homelessness in his city council district by more than 25 percent. He also promises reliable road repairs, cleanup of illegal dumping and support for small businesses. **Strengths:** Two terms as council president, a rare stretch under the council's own rules, plus a coalition spanning labor and business. **Trade-offs:** A public dispute with the city attorney over a public-safety rollout shows how he handles disagreement with fellow officials. **Keep in mind:** He gave up the council presidency to run for this seat, and county government covers rural social services his city district does not touch. ## Maria Pacheco Maria Pacheco is the two-term Mayor of Kerman and the city's first mayor of Indigenous heritage; they are the daughter of farmworkers and a mother of six who, after earning their GED, became a first-generation college student at Fresno State, where they completed a social work degree (campaign site; GV Wire). They work as senior field representative for Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria (D-Fresno) and has also worked as a women's resource center advocate and nonprofit director. "My motivation to run for mayor stemmed from a genuine desire to make a tangible difference in Kerman's growth," Pacheco has said of their path into politics (GV Wire), and their campaign site says they want to bring that "proven mayoral leadership" to the county level for western Fresno County families. In January, they objected on the record when a National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day proclamation at a Kerman council meeting included language covering immigration officers: "I'm just appalled that I read that out loud today," they said, asking that the certificate be corrected (GV Wire). The city manager called the inclusion a "cut-and-paste error," and a revised proclamation was issued; a fellow council member said the objection "does reek of somebody running for political office," a reference to Pacheco's supervisor campaign. Pacheco's campaign promises more sheriff deputies, stronger fire and emergency response, and expanded crisis response and youth prevention programs for District 1. They promise to direct county economic resources toward western Fresno County, expand workforce training and improve infrastructure there. They also promise streamlined housing permits, renter protections and a reliable water supply for farms (campaign site). **Strengths:** An elected chief executive of a District 1 city, plus a social work background centered on child welfare and family advocacy. **Trade-offs:** No supervisor level record to judge, and a day job for a state legislator who also backs Pacheco's campaign is worth weighing. **Keep in mind:** Pacheco corrected an immigration related proclamation error at their own council meeting in January, a documented example of how they handled a fast moving dispute. ## Review notes - Mike Karbassi for Fresno County Supervisor and Maria Pacheco for Fresno County Supervisor may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [Fresno County elections office — certified June 2, 2026 primary results](https://www.fresnocountyca.gov/Departments/County-ClerkRegistrar-of-Voters/Elections/Election-Results/2026/RESULTS-FOR-JUNE-2-2026-CONSOLIDATED-STATEWIDE-PRIMARY-ELECTION) 2. [GV Wire — Central Valley election coverage, Assembly District 27](https://gvwire.com/2026/06/03/esmeralda-soria-brian-pacheco-adam-gray-advance-to-november-runoffs/) 3. [GV Wire — Fresno Supervisors District 1 Runoff Between Karbassi and Pacheco Is Likely](https://gvwire.com/2026/06/02/fresno-supervisors-district-1-runoff-between-karbassi-and-pacheco-is-likely/) 4. [GV Wire — Karbassi Stepping Down as Fresno City Council President](https://gvwire.com/2026/03/13/karbassi-stepping-down-as-fresno-city-council-president/) 5. [GV Wire — Janz Says Fresno City Prosecutors Can Now Carry Firearms on the Job, Karbassi Disagrees](https://gvwire.com/2026/08/24/janz-says-fresno-city-prosecutors-can-now-carry-firearms-on-the-job-karbassi-disagrees/) 6. [GV Wire — Fresno County Supervisor Race: Karbassi Outraises Pacheco (used here only for Karbassi's 'proven record' quote)](https://gvwire.com/2026/08/06/fresno-county-supervisor-race-karbassi-outraises-pacheco/) 7. [GV Wire — Kerman Mayor Objects to ICE Language in Law Enforcement Proclamation](https://gvwire.com/2026/01/19/kerman-mayor-objects-to-ice-language-in-law-enforcement-proclamation/) 8. [GV Wire — This Busy Fresno State Student Is Mom to Six and Mayor of Kerman](https://gvwire.com/2023/11/02/this-busy-fresno-state-student-is-mom-to-six-and-mayor-of-kerman/) 9. [Mike Karbassi for Fresno County Supervisor — campaign site](https://www.karbassiforsupervisor.com) 10. [Maria Pacheco for Fresno County Supervisor — campaign site](https://pachecoforfresno.com/) ## The rest of the ballot Fresno County Board of Supervisors, 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 County Board of Supervisors, District 1 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/fresno-supervisor-1 (sources last retrieved September 24, 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.