Nelson Esparza

Nelson Esparza

Democratic Party

Candidate, California State Board of Equalization District 1

Fresno City Council District 7

Tenure

2019 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

7

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Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last election

June 7, 2022

Next election

June 2, 2026

Contact

Official website

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Nelson Esparza is a member of the Fresno City Council in California, representing District 7. He assumed office in 2019. His current term ends on January 5, 2027.

Esparza (Democratic Party) is running for election to the California State Board of Equalization to represent District 1. He is on the ballot in the primary on June 2, 2026.^[source]

Elections

2026

See also: California State Board of Equalization election, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on June 2, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Nonpartisan primary

Nonpartisan primary election for California State Board of Equalization District 1

Nelson Esparza (D), Donald Williamson (D), Dusty Beach (R), Shannon Grove (R), and Nader Shahatit (R) are running in the primary for California State Board of Equalization District 1 on June 2, 2026.

		Candidate
		Nelson Esparza (D)
	Submit photo	Donald Williamson (D)
	Submit photo	Dusty Beach (R)
		Shannon Grove (R)
		Nader Shahatit (R)

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
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2022

See also: City elections in Fresno, California (2022)

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Fresno City Council District 7

Incumbent Nelson Esparza won election outright against Courtney Westfall and Jason Keomanee in the primary for Fresno City Council District 7 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Nelson Esparza (Nonpartisan)	66.1	3,302
	Submit photo	Courtney Westfall (Nonpartisan)	22.5	1,125
	Submit photo	Jason Keomanee (Nonpartisan)	11.4	570

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,997
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2018

See also: Municipal elections in Fresno, California (2018)

General election

General election for Fresno City Council District 7

Nelson Esparza defeated Brian Daniel Whelan in the general election for Fresno City Council District 7 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Nelson Esparza (Nonpartisan)	61.1	5,591
		Brian Daniel Whelan (Nonpartisan)	38.2	3,495
		Other/Write-in votes	0.6	59

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 9,145
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Fresno City Council District 7

Brian Daniel Whelan and Nelson Esparza defeated Veva Islas in the primary for Fresno City Council District 7 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Brian Daniel Whelan (Nonpartisan)	38.0	1,826
✔		Nelson Esparza (Nonpartisan)	37.8	1,815
	Submit photo	Veva Islas (Nonpartisan)	24.2	1,163

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 4,804
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

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2022

Nelson Esparza did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2018

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys

Nelson Esparza participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on June 27, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Nelson Esparza's responses follow below.

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

“

Economic Development Revitalizing District 7 Neighborhoods Public Safety Tackling the homeless crisis Building a senior center

”

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?

“

Regional Economic Development Creating opportunities & jobs in Fresno Education

”

Campaign finance summary

Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.

See also

2026 Elections

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Officeholder

Fresno City Council District 7

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