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City of Kerman · Statewide General Election

Mayor of Kerman

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 serve as Kerman's directly elected Mayor, presiding over City Council meetings and casting one of five votes on city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Fresno County city of about 16,000 residents. A 2-year term -- shorter than the 4-year terms held by Kerman's four district Council seats. Kerman has no separately elected City Clerk or City Treasurer; both are appointed staff positions under the City Manager.

A genuine, contested race for an open seat: Gary K. Yep, the sitting City Council District 1 member, faces Yazmine Enriquez. Neither is the incumbent Mayor -- Maria Pacheco is not seeking reelection here.

Kerman's Mayor is directly elected by voters -- unlike some nearby Fresno County cities, the Council doesn't choose its own Mayor here. The Mayor presides over City Council meetings and casts one of five votes on city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Fresno County city of about 16,000 residents. A 2-year term, shorter than the 4-year terms held by the city's four district Council seats. Kerman has no separately elected City Clerk or City Treasurer; both are appointed staff positions under the City Manager.

This seat is open because Mayor Maria Pacheco did not file for reelection. Independent local news reporting (GV Wire, January 2026) confirms why: Pacheco is running instead for Fresno County Supervisor, District 1, against City Councilmember Mike Karbassi -- a separate contest that does not appear on this ballot as a city race. Because the seat is open, whoever wins starts a fresh term rather than facing an incumbent.

Gary K. Yep

The sitting District 1 City Councilmember and current Mayor Pro Tem, running for the open Mayor's seat rather than seeking reelection to his own Council seat; his filed ballot designation is "City Council Member." The only independent, attributed record of his views found this session comes from a Council vote on a 2024 Gaza cease-fire resolution, where he was one of two abstentions: "I have a tough time because to me, it seems one-sided," he said, citing unverifiable casualty figures and saying he would have preferred the city send a personal letter instead of a formal proclamation. Beyond his Council record, no independent biographical detail -- occupation or background -- was found for him.

Strengths

Sitting Council and Mayor Pro Tem experience, plus one documented, independently reported instance of him explaining a vote in his own words.

Trade-offs

That one data point is a single abstention on a symbolic resolution, not a record on the budget, land use, or other city business a Mayor actually runs.

Keep in mind

Moving from Council to Mayor would open his own District 1 seat regardless of who wins there -- see that separate contest on this ballot.

Yazmine Enriquez

Her filed ballot designation is "Small Business Manager." No independent biographical detail was found for her beyond that designation and the county's own filing record, despite a genuine multi-method search -- the city's own site, GV Wire's own site search, Google News RSS, and Ballotpedia (which carries no page for her).

Strengths

A contested run for an open seat, with a stated professional background (small-business management) on file with the county.

Trade-offs

No independent reporting evaluates her record -- her filed designation is the only confirmed detail about her.

Keep in mind

As a first-time candidate for this office, she has no council voting record to compare against Yep's.

Source review: Very strong (90/100) · 6 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context.

  • 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
  • gvwire.com (opens in a new tab)GV Wire -- "Kerman Mayor Objects to ICE Language in Law Enforcement Proclamation" (Jan. 19, 2026, fetched and read directly): identifies Maria Pacheco as Kerman's sitting Mayor and reports that she is "running for Fresno County supervisor in District 1" -- independent confirmation of why no incumbent filed for the Mayor's seat this cycle; also describes her as a critic of ICE tactics and a senior field representative for Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria
  • gvwire.com (opens in a new tab)GV Wire -- "A Fresno County First: Kerman Council Passes Amended Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution" (March 28, 2024, fetched and read directly): names the then-sitting Kerman City Council and records a 3-2 vote (Pacheco, Nijjer, Herrera in favor; Yep and Coleman abstaining); quotes Councilmember Gary Yep directly on his abstention: "I have a tough time because to me, it seems one-sided," citing unverifiable casualty figures and a preference for a personal letter instead

Last updated September 1, 2026.