Assemblyman Kevin McCarty declares victory in Sacramento mayoral race. ‘I am honored’
Assemblyman Kevin McCarty has declared victory in Sacramento’s mayoral race.
“I am honored to be the next mayor of Sacramento,” McCarty’s campaign posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, Tuesday evening after the county posted the latest batch of results. “Thank you to my incredible supporters and campaign team, whose dedication and hard work made this victory possible.”
In the latest batch of results the county released around 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, McCarty maintained his lead, winning 50.7% of the vote while Flojaune Cofer had 49.3% — roughly the same percentages as last week’s updates. As of Tuesday’s update, McCarty has won 95,310 votes and Cofer has won 92,678.
McCarty has been leading since early results were first released Election Night.
The gap has narrowed in the weeks following, causing McCarty to hold off on declaring victory until Tuesday. Paul Mitchell, vice president of bipartisan voting data firm Political Data Inc., said according to his analysis of the data, McCarty has indeed won.
Cofer has not conceded.
“My 42nd birthday wish is to count every vote because every vote matters!” Cofer posted to X Tuesday evening. “I am deeply committed to the democratic process and to amplifying the voices of every Sacramentan. That’s why I’m waiting until every single vote is counted before making any statements about the outcome of this election. I believe in honoring the hard work of voters, election officials, and the values of fairness and transparency that define our democracy.”
She also urged voters to check to make sure their ballot has been counted, using a county website.
In his statement, McCarty congratulated Cofer for running “a spirited and passionate campaign.”
“It is clear that voters want to see change and I am ready to start the hard work needed to move Sacramento forward,” McCarty said. “Achieving this will require a collaborative effort with our City Council, local elected officials, business leaders, labor groups, nonprofits and our broader community. As I said often during this campaign — if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.”
The results will be certified Dec. 3 after the remaining roughly 2,587 ballots are counted, Mitchell said. But even if Cofer wins all the remaining ballots, she would not win the race.
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 further 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.
During a nearly two-year long campaign, McCarty said he wants the city to open more homeless shelters where people can sleep in tiny homes, trailers or tents as they await permanent housing. He suggested the city explore opening such so-called Safe Ground sites at Cal Expo, a city-owned 100-acre property in Meadowview, and a small vacant city property in North Sacramento.
He has said the city should enforce the U.S. Supreme Court’s Grants Pass ruling, meaning the city should move homeless people off public land even when a shelter bed isn’t available — something he differed from Cofer on. He has said he wants to place an item about homelessness on every single City Council meeting agenda. In recent months, agendas often have not contained a homelessness item.
On police, McCarty said he wants the city to hire more police officers, but not immediately, as the city is currently facing a projected roughly $77 million deficit for the fiscal year that starts July 1. He has also said he wants to work on increasing accountability and transparency in the department.
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 26, 2024 at 6:17 PM.
