Sacramento Supervisor Don Nottoli won’t seek re-election, after nearly three decades in seat

Sacramento County Supervisor Don Nottoli will not seek re-election in 2022, leaving a position he has held for nearly three decades as a reliably moderate member on the board.

It would have been Nottoli’s 8th term representing District 5, a region with more than 300,000 people that stretches from Rancho Cordova down to Galt and farther south into the Delta communities.

A Sacramento County native and graduate of Sac State, Nottoli worked as an aide to his predecessor Toby Johnson for 15 years before he was elected at age 39 in 1994 to the county board. Frequently a swing vote between progressive and conservative members of the board, Democrat Nottoli has managed to remain well-liked by his peers.

In an interview, Nottoli said there was no particular reason for the decision not to run again after 27 years on the board. Nottoli was elected to the Galt City Council in 1978, and served more than 17 years as a board member with the Galt High School District Board of Trustees.

“It’s been a career that spans several decades. It’s been a tremendous honor to work in public service and serve people in this county but I don’t intend to seek re-election in 2022,” Nottoli. “But I’m going to keep working hard at this all the way through.”

Candidates lining up for Nottoli’s district seat

The primary election will be held in June 2022 and a field of candidates is already forming to take Nottoli’s place. It’s an early sign that the race will likely be crowded and contentious. The last time there was an open seat for District 5, Nottoli faced off against a Sacramento City Councilman, an Elk Grove Unified School member, and at least three others.

This week, two people said they intend to run for the District 5 seat: Jaclyn Moreno, who sits on the Cosumnes Community Services District board, and former Elk Grove Mayor Gary Davis. Nottoli said both candidates reached out in advance to ask if he planned to run again.

Moreno was first elected to the board which oversees parks, recreation and fire services for south Sacramento County communities in 2018. She was also one of a handful of women who accused former Mayor Steve Ly of misconduct last year. Moreno accused Ly’s former aide of harassment and said the mayor never did anything to stop it when given the chance. The allegations loomed over the mayoral race and likely cost Ly the election.

“There is a lot to get done, we must do better, and I’m ready to be part of the solution,” Moreno said in a prepared statement. “I will spend the next year on a listening tour working collaboratively with different stakeholders to identify additional priorities and to come up with potential solutions.”

Davis served as Elk Grove’s first directly-elected mayor and also served on the city council. Davis did not seek re-election and has since become a consultant for the controversial hospital planned by California Northstate University n the west side of Elk Grove.

“These are extraordinary and challenging times that call for experience and leadership,” Davis said in a prepared statement. “Families are struggling and many small businesses have shut their doors. We need to rebuild the local economy and restore trust in our communities.”

This story was originally published February 5, 2021 at 12:12 PM.