Expert says Sacramento’s next mayor has been determined. Who did he say won?
Assemblyman Kevin McCarty maintained his lead to become Sacramento’s next mayor Friday.
In the latest batch of results the county released at 4:15 p.m. Friday, Assemblyman Kevin McCarty has won 51.2% of the vote while Flojaune Cofer has 48.8%.
Fewer than 4,200 votes separate the candidates.
That’s the narrowest gap between the two candidates since Election Night. However Paul Mitchell, vice president of bipartisan voting data firm Political Data Inc., said according to his analysis, McCarty will win.
“She would have to win 70% of the remaining ballots left to count and there’s nothing in the data to suggest she’s going to do that,” Mitchell said Friday. “Right now it seems out of reach for Flo Cofer and Kevin McCarty is gonna win.”
McCarty has not declared victory.
“The latest update shows that my lead is 4,100 votes and I continue to maintain a lead in this race,” McCarty said in a statement Friday evening on social media. “We continue to be cautiously optimistic, but we want to see every vote counted before making any other statement. The next update is Tuesday.”
Cofer stated that she remained optimistic.
McCarty, a state assemblyman and former councilman, got the support of Mayor Darrell Steinberg, as well as the city police union and District Attorney Thien Ho.
Cofer, who is farther left, is a public health professional and former chair of a city commission tasked with advising council on how to spend new tax revenue. She was supported by Councilwomen Katie Valenzuela and Mai Vang and the Democratic Socialists of America’s Sacramento chapter.
The new mayor along with two new council members will be sworn in on Dec. 10 — a meeting in which they will also need to consider whether to keep City Manager Howard Chan in his post. McCarty has said he supports keeping Chan in his post another year, while Cofer said she did not.
This story was originally published November 15, 2024 at 5:23 PM.
