This Sacramento mayoral candidate is leading in primary election after latest batch of votes
Flojaune Cofer is now leading the pack in the close Sacramento mayoral race.
Cofer was in fourth place on Election Night, but has risen significantly in each update since. In the new batch of results posted online by the county Tuesday, Cofer had 25.7% of the vote.
She will likely be one of the top two candidates who will make it to the Nov. 5 runoff, state election expert Paul Mitchell said.
“This is what I was looking for, someone to break away,” said Mitchell, vice president of bipartisan voting data firm Political Data Inc., after reviewing Tuesday’s results. “She has improved with every batch of ballots (since Election Night).”
Richard Pan, who had been leading until Tuesday’s results posted, dropped to second with 22.6%. McCarty moved up to third at 22.4% and Hansen is in fourth at 22.2%.
Roughly 68,000 mayoral ballots have been so far counted, according to a county website, but there are still roughly 40,000 ballots outstanding, Mitchell said.
“Our campaign and wonderful volunteers worked tirelessly through to the moment polls closed last Tuesday to ensure that every Sacramentan had an opportunity to vote,” Cofer said in a statement Tuesday. “We’re energized by the latest release of ballots, and will continue to exercise and encourage patience as the remaining 30,000 votes are counted.”
Hansen also said he was exercising patience.
“Appreciate everyone’s patience while we await the results of this incredibly tight race,” Hansen posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday. “Thank you for the kind words and please continue to hang tight.”
In the race to represent the central city and East Sacramento, Phil Pluckebaum is still leading with 54.2% over Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela who is at 42.6%. In the race to succeed former Councilman Sean Loloee, Roger Dickinson is still leading with 45.7% followed by Stephen Walton with 15.5% and Kim Davie at 10.5%. Those races will also go to November runoffs unless a single candidates secures over 50.01% of the vote when the ballots are all counted by the end of the month.
Councilman Eric Guerra, who has unofficially won re-election, is currently at 67.6%.
The next batch of results will be released Friday.
The new mayor and council members will be sworn in Dec. 10.
This story was originally published March 12, 2024 at 4:13 PM.
