Allen Warren loses seat on Sacramento City Council. South Sacramento race too close to call
Incumbent Allen Warren has lost his seat on the Sacramento City Council to grocery chain owner Sean Loloee, a challenger who vowed change for neighborhoods in North Sacramento that have suffered from decades of disinvestment.
Loloee’s apparent victory in District 2, based on the latest ballot results released by the county Friday afternoon, marks the second time this year an incumbent on the City Council has failed to win reelection — a sign, Loloee said earlier this week, that residents in Sacramento are eager to eschew “the status quo.”
“The residents, they were all kind of unanimous that we need change, and they’re tired of the district not getting enough attention like some of the other districts,” Loloee told The Sacramento Bee on Wednesday. “What the residents wanted and what the incumbents wanted obviously didn’t match up.”
With roughly two-thirds of ballots counted in Sacramento County, Loloee had about 55% of the vote and Warren about 44%.
Meanwhile, the City Council race between Mai Vang and Pastor Les Simmons in south Sacramento’s District 8 remains tight. As of Friday afternoon, Vang had secured 51% of the vote and Simmons had 49%. The candidates were separated by just 249 votes.
The Sacramento County Registrar of Voters is still counting votes, as election officials continue to process additional late-arriving mail-in ballots and provisional ballots. The office will certify results by Dec. 1, after which campaigns have five days to call for a recount at their expense, according to county spokeswoman Janna Haynes.
North Sacramento District 2
Since Tuesday night, the margin between Loloee and Warren has continued to widen. On Wednesday, Loloee said he was still waiting for votes to be certified, but that “internally, we feel very good, very strong” about results thus far.
Earlier this year, Councilwoman-elect Katie Valenzuela defeated incumbent Councilman Steve Hansen in the March primary to represent the central city and Land Park in the District 4.
Warren has been on the council since 2012. He was reelected by a wide margin in 2016, but failed to win a majority of the vote during the March primary.
A real estate developer, Warren says his biggest accomplishments while representing North Sacramento neighborhoods have been attracting grocery stores, helping to keep the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento and uplifting disadvantaged youth with new programs.
Warren received nearly $139,000 in campaign donations this year, while Loloee received about $133,000 over the same period.
South Sacramento District 8
Vang and Simmons, both community activists with deep roots in south Sacramento, are vying to replace Councilman Larry Carr, who is retiring from office.
Vang, an outgoing Sacramento City Unified School Board member and a former staffer for Carr, had earned 47% of the vote during the March primary. Simmons, a senior pastor at South Sacramento Christian Center, had earned 33% of the vote during the primary.
District 8 represents some of the city’s most ethnically diverse neighborhoods, including Meadowview, Parkway, North Laguna Creek and Jacinto Creek. Both Vang and Simmons have said they knew the race for District 8 would be close; Vang received more than $172,000 in campaign contributions this year, while Simmons received nearly $130,000.
The two candidates had split the current City Council for support: Council members Carr, Warren, Angelique Ashby and Jeff Harris endorsed Vang, while Councilmen Hansen, Jay Schenirer and Rick Jennings endorsed Simmons.
There was historic turnout among voters in District 8, Vang told The Bee Wednesday afternoon, a feat that is emblematic of aggressive grassroots campaigning by both candidates that has energized residents.
“Many of the voters who’ve lived here for 25 years or more said there has never been a candidate who’s knocked on their door,” Vang said. “We put our heart and our hustle in the ground game and now we wait and we see.”
Vang, 35, is the oldest of 16 siblings. She grew up in a poor immigrant family in Meadowview. If elected, she would be the first Asian American woman elected to the council.
“I think our campaign is more than just about Mai,” Vang said Friday. “It’s about creating a healthier and more equitable south Sacramento.”
The Vang campaign launched on Labor Day 2019, she said. By Election Day, her team had amassed more than 300 volunteers.
“Our volunteers are very diverse,” Vang said. “Not just in race and ethnicity but in gender, in age. We have elders on our campaign that don’t speak English. There is a role for everyone on this campaign and when I become council woman there’s a role for every single person. When I go to City Hall, I’m bringing everyone with me.”
Simmons and Warren did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment.
This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 3:31 PM.
