Janz warns Working Families Party over Fresno campaign filing dispute

Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz warned the California Working Families Party that it could face a $1,000 fine if it did not correct campaign filing problems, putting Fresno’s election watchdog system under a microscope as outside money flows into local races. The warning centered on missing expenditure forms tied to Fresno City Council District 1 candidate Naindeep Singh, District 7 candidate Ariana Martinez Lott and Assembly District 31 candidate Sandra Celedon.

Janz sent the letter Tuesday and gave the party 48 hours to fix the reporting issue. The Working Families Party said it had already submitted the required forms to the state on May 21. At stake is basic election transparency: the forms are supposed to show who spent money, how much was spent and on whose behalf, so voters can see the money trail behind campaigns that may otherwise look locally driven.

That disclosure matters because California law requires committees and candidates to report contributions and expenditures, and state guidance says spending coordinated with a candidate can be treated as a contribution rather than independent activity. In a competitive Fresno election season, that distinction can determine whether voters are looking at a true outside expenditure or a contribution that may carry more direct political weight.

The dispute lands just as the June 2, 2026 primary approaches for Fresno City Council District 1 and District 7, along with Assembly District 31. Those contests have attracted attention from organized political groups, consultants and donors trying to shape outcomes across Fresno County and the broader Central Valley, where local elections increasingly draw statewide money and messaging.

Janz also reviewed a separate complaint involving the One Fresno Coalition and concluded the group was substantially in compliance, even though some filings were late. The coordination allegation tied to a Martinez Lott phone bank was outside his office’s jurisdiction, Janz said, underscoring the limits of city enforcement even when questions about campaign coordination remain unresolved.

The city attorney’s office, which Janz has led since December 2022, has 39 attorneys, 190 support staff and an annual budget of about $32 million. The office has shown it is willing to use its campaign-finance tools: in a 2025 Fresno campaign-finance case, Janz imposed a $1,000 sanction on Fresno Future Forward after late filings, and the committee later filed the paperwork and returned to compliance.

For voters trying to sort out who is backing Naindeep Singh, Ariana Martinez Lott and Sandra Celedon, the dispute is a reminder that the paper trail is not a technicality. In Fresno, it is the only way to see how much money is entering local politics, and whether city enforcement has real teeth when the filings are late or missing.