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City of Kerman · Statewide General Election

Kerman City Council, District 3

Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

This person would hold one of four district seats on Kerman's 5-member City Council, alongside a directly elected Mayor: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Fresno County city of about 16,000 residents. A 4-year term. Kerman has no separately elected City Clerk or City Treasurer; both are appointed staff positions under the City Manager.

Only one candidate qualified for this seat. Maria Berber Orozco appears unopposed -- so this contest is settled and your vote here does not change the outcome.

This person would hold Kerman's District 3 seat on a 5-member City Council that also includes a directly elected Mayor: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Fresno County city of about 16,000 residents. A 4-year term. Kerman has no separately elected City Clerk or City Treasurer; both are appointed staff positions under the City Manager.

The sitting District 3 member, Ismael Herrera, did not file for reelection, and Berber Orozco -- whose filed designation carries no "Incumbent" flag -- is the only candidate who qualified. Fresno County's own Contest/Candidate Proof List still flags this contest ON BALLOT rather than cancelled and filled by direct appointment under Elections Code Section 10229, the same non-cancellation pattern already documented in this dataset for Coalinga's single-candidate Council seats. With no opponent, the useful question is not who to choose but what's known about the candidate and what to watch next.

Maria Berber Orozco

The sole qualified candidate, unopposed; her filed ballot designation is "Care Manager." She is not the sitting District 3 incumbent -- Ismael Herrera, who held the seat, did not file for reelection. No independent biographical detail was found for her beyond that designation and the county's own filing record, despite a genuine multi-method search.

Strengths

A stated professional background in care management, on file with the county, and a clear path onto the Council given no opposing filer.

Trade-offs

This dataset found no independent reporting or biography evaluating her record or platform beyond that filed designation.

Keep in mind

Running unopposed for an open seat, she has had no occasion to generate contested-campaign coverage or disclosure, and the outgoing incumbent's reason for not seeking reelection was not stated anywhere this dataset could find.

Source review: Very strong (90/100) · 4 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • www2.fresnocountyca.gov (opens in a new tab)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 Kerman's three city contests -- 5090 Kerman Mayor (Vote For 1; Qualified: Gary K. Yep, "City Council Member"; Yazmine Enriquez, "Small Business Manager"), 5092 Kerman City Council No. 1 (Vote For 1; Qualified: Mayra Galvez, "Family Outreach Liaison"; Charles "Charlie" Jones, "Retired Bank Officer"; Michael Mudgett, "Small Business Manager"), and 5097 Kerman City Council No. 3 (Vote For 1; Qualified: Maria Berber Orozco, "Care Manager")
  • www2.fresnocountyca.gov (opens in a new tab)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 Kerman contests as ON BALLOT and separately lists each seat's incumbent-of-record -- Maria Anita Pacheco (Elected) for Mayor, Gary K. Yep (Elected) for District 1, and Ismael Diaz Herrera (Elected) for District 3 -- none of whom is a qualified candidate for that same seat this cycle; confirms District 3's single-qualified-candidate contest remains ON BALLOT rather than cancelled under Elections Code Section 10229
  • cityofkerman.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Kerman -- "City Council" page: states the Council has five members including the Mayor, with the Mayor directly elected by voters for a 2-year term and Council Members elected for 4-year terms; names the sitting Council -- Maria Pacheco (Mayor), Gary Yep (Mayor Pro Tem, District 1), Berdie Hall (District 2, not up this cycle), Ismael Herrera (District 3), and Raj Dhaliwal (District 4, not up this cycle) -- and lists City Clerk Dalia Santana-Zamudio among the City Manager's departments rather than as a separately elected office; no City Treasurer position appears anywhere on the site
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia's Kerman, California article: population 16,016 (2020 census), incorporated July 2, 1946

Last updated September 1, 2026.