Sacramento City Council election results: Here’s who’s leading in 3 open seats
Longtime Natomas Unified School Board member Lisa Kaplan pulled ahead in a race for a seat on Sacramento City Council during early results Tuesday.
Kaplan had 50.5% of the vote just after midnight Wednesday for the seat representing North Natomas. Realtor Alyssa Lozano had 26.7% of the vote, and LGBTQ leader Nate Pelczar had 18.9%.
Two other City Council races were close in early returns. City Council candidates would win their races outright if they gain more than 50% of the vote. Otherwise, the races will be settled in the November general election.
For the South Natomas District 3 seat, Karina Talamantes had 48.6% of the vote, while Michael Lynch had 40.3%.
The District 5 race was tighter. Caity Maple had 38.2% of the vote, while Tamiko Heim had 34.7%.
District 5 district includes Oak Park, Hollywood Park, and parts of south Sacramento. District 3 includes South Natomas and Gardenland/Northgate.
The council has three open council seats, an unusual situation, partly due to the once-a-decade redistricting process. The new lines, drawn by an independent commission, placed Councilman Jeff Harris’ River Park home outside his district. In addition, Councilman Jay Schenirer is retiring, and Councilwoman Angelique Ashby is leaving the council to run for State Senate.
Talamantes leading in District 3
In early returns, Talamantes, Ashby’s chief of staff, was leading Lynch, founder of a youth nonprofit. While Talamantes was supported by the police union, Lynch was supported by developers.
District 3, which includes traditionally underserved areas of South Natomas and Gardenland/Northgate, was the most drastically affected by the once-a-decade redistricting.
Talamantes, 33, president of the Sacramento County Board of Education, is the daughter of Mexican immigrants. She attended UC Davis, and got involved in politics in 2017 after the women’s marches that followed former President Donald Trump’s election. She then won the board election and joined Ashby’s staff.
Lynch, 33, grew up in Stockton, and moved to south Sacramento’s Valley Hi neighborhood in ninth grade. He attended University of Nevada, Las Vegas, on a football scholarship. Lynch pursued a career in politics after a campaign rally for former President Barack Obama inspired him in 2007. He worked in the Legislature for seven years.
District 5 very close
Maple, 30, a homeless activist and former vice president of a local pot company, started her campaign in 2020, much earlier than her opponent Heim, who started campaigning in February 2022 after redistricting.
Maple is the more liberal candidate of the two. She pledged not to accept campaign donations from law enforcement, developers and estate. Those groups gave their money to Heim, 42, a state worker and Active Transportation Commission member. The California Association of Realtors spent $60,000 on ads against Maple.
Maple has said she wants to beef up a city program to make it harder for landlords to evict tenants, and supported a ballot measure two years ago that would have done so. Realtor groups spent over $350,000 fighting that measure, and it failed.
In District 7, Councilman Rick Jennings was unopposed.
This story was originally published June 7, 2022 at 8:48 PM.
