Two experts say they know who won Sacramento mayoral race, but no one has declared victory
It became more clear Tuesday that Assemblyman Kevin McCarty will be Sacramento’s next mayor, two experts said Tuesday, but he has not yet declared victory.
In the latest batch of results the county released at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, McCarty had won 50.8% of the vote while Flojaune Cofer had 49%.
Only 3,159 votes separate the candidates. However, Paul Mitchell, vice president of bipartisan voting data firm Political Data Inc., said according to his analysis of the data, McCarty will win.
“While she won 55% of (of the new ballots released) in this batch, she would have to win the remaining by 75% or greater depending on how many ballots are outstanding,” Mitchell said.
Ryan Brown, a political consultant who’s also chief of staff to Councilwoman Caity Maple, agreed.
“There’s just no path to victory with the required 66% margin,” Brown posted to X, formerly Twitter, Tuesday. “Congratulations to our next Sacramento mayor, Kevin McCarty.”
McCarty’s spokesman Andrew Acosta declined comment Tuesday. Cofer also declined comment Tuesday.
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.
The county will post the next batch of results Friday.
This story was originally published November 19, 2024 at 4:58 PM.
