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A second judge has been booted from a lawsuit that could decide when a Fresno County tax measure will be on the ballot.
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On Tuesday, Fresno County filed a peremptory challenge to Judge Virna Santos, automatically removing her from the case.
In the motion, attorney Brian Hildreth wrote that the county believes Santos “is prejudiced against the Plaintiffs-Petitioners.” The motion did not spell out the reasoning.
On Friday, state Attorney General Rob Bonta made a similar motion to remove the originally assigned judge, Robert Whalen. As well, the motion did not spell out the reasoning.
Fresno County is challenging a state law that forces Measure S — the Better Roads, Safe Streets campaign for a countywide tax measure — on the Nov. 3 ballot.
At a meeting last week, the county Board of Supervisors placed the measure on the March 7, 2028, ballot. But a bill authored by Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria, D-Fresno, and signed into law four days later, circumvented the county’s power to set the election date.
The court has yet to post information on the third judge assigned in the case. The court docket lists no date for the initial hearing.
Why parties wanted judges gone
Although neither side spelled out its belief of prejudice in the respective court filings, Fresno County Board of Supervisors Chair Garry Bredefeld explained the county’s position to The Fresno Bee.
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“Legal counsel made the recommendation because the judge (Santos) had previously personally represented the author (Soria) of the legislation at issue in another legal matter,” Bredefeld said.
Prior to her 2022 appointment to the bench by Gov. Gavin Newsom, Santos — then a private-practice attorney — represented four Fresno city councilmembers — Miguel Arias, Nelson Esparza, Tyler Maxwell and Soria. At the time, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office was investigating the four councilmembers for violations of the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting laws.
No charges were ever filed.
The state would not detail its reasoning to remove Whalen — a former county prosecutor and Clovis city councilman — when asked by The Bee.
“We have nothing further to share beyond what can be found in publicly available filings,” a spokesperson for Bonta said.
When they started on the bench, Santos was a registered Democrat; Whalen — who won a 2022 election to the bench — was a Republican.
This story was originally published August 19, 2026 at 1:26 PM with the headline “Second judge booted from Fresno County tax measure lawsuit; a third judge not identified.”
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