Brian Pacheco has big lead against GOP candidate in Assembly District 27 race

Fresno County Supervisor Brian Pacheco opened a large early lead on election night in the race for California’s Assembly District 27, currently held by Esmeralda Soria.

Returns showed almost 55,000 votes had been counted as of 8:45 p.m. in the race to represent the district, which covers west Fresno County and large parts of Madera and Merced counties. Pacheco, a Democrat, held about 62.8% of the vote while Republican Mike Murphy, a business attorney and former Merced mayor, held 37.2%.

The Fresno Bee could not immediately reach Pacheco on Tuesday night.

Murphy told The Bee his team “worked super hard from beginning to end,” but added that the current results “certainly aren’t where we want them to be.”

“I don’t have any intention of prolonging it,” he said. “Once we’ve got some more results in, if the trend holds, then we’ll have a conversation about it and move forward.”

The two candidates advanced from the June primary election, when Murphy finished with the most votes — 43.4% of the total. Pacheco received 40.3% of the vote in the primary election, but another Democrat, Livingston City Councilmember Japjeet Singh Uppal, was also on that ballot.

Pacheco, a fourth-generation dairy farmer, has been the District 1 Fresno County supervisor since 2015, representing the city of Fresno’s west side and communities on the west side of Fresno County. He previously told The Fresno Bee he is running to “bring steady leadership and real Valley experience to Sacramento.”

Prior to serving as a county supervisor, Pacheco served 12 years on the Kerman Unified school board. He is endorsed by Soria, the current Assembly district 27 seat holder who is now vying for a spot in the California Senate.

Murphy was elected to the Merced City Council in 2011 and served as mayor from 2016 to 2020. He has said he is running with a focus on public safety, reducing the cost of living and protecting the Central Valley’s water supply. Murphy is endorsed by several Merced city and county elected officials, including Sheriff Vern Warnke.