Dyer backs council candidates aligned with his Fresno policy agenda

Jerry Dyer is using the final stretch of his second and last mayoral term to try to shape who sits next to him at City Hall, backing candidates who match his agenda on public safety, homelessness, downtown revitalization and growth.

The mayor said he is supporting Robert Fuentes in District 1, Danielle Parra in District 5 and Nav Gurm in District 7. He has not endorsed in District 3, where he said a runoff could push the decision into the Nov. 3 general election if no candidate wins outright in the June 2 primary.

That primary will decide four Fresno City Council seats, with Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7 on the ballot. Fresno uses staggered elections, so the odd-numbered districts are voted on together, and 20 candidates are competing for the four open seats after the March 6 filing deadline.

Dyer has made clear he wants councilmembers who will work well with his administration and not “disrupt the sweet spirit” at City Hall. His choices line up with the projects he wants to finish before leaving office: downtown development, a proposed professional soccer team and stadium, a $100 million roads-and-sidewalks repair effort, and the Southeast Development Area specific plan.

That development plan would add 9,000 acres and an estimated 45,000 homes in southeast Fresno. Dyer has put special emphasis on South SEDA, a 1,547-acre section that would open land for residential development and flexible research-and-development uses tied to advanced manufacturing jobs. For Dyer, the endorsements are not just about election-season signaling. They are about building the voting bloc most likely to support the land-use, housing and infrastructure decisions he still wants on the books before his term ends.

Dyer also endorsed Eimear O’Brien for Fresno County superintendent of schools, giving her a prominent local boost in a race that also includes incumbent Michele Cantwell-Copher and challenger Johnny Alvarado. The county superintendent oversees and supports Fresno County’s 31 school districts, making the office one of the more consequential seats on the June ballot.

He has not endorsed a gubernatorial candidate, but he has publicly lined up behind candidates in two Fresno County Board of Supervisors races, six judicial races and one state seat. In a crowded endorsement season, Dyer’s picks put him squarely in the middle of the county’s power struggle, with his influence likely to matter most in races that could decide how Fresno City Hall and county institutions govern after November.