Your guide to Sacramento’s 5th District City Council primary race
Incumbent Caity Maple faces two opponents the primary for the 5th District seat on Sacramento’s City Council.
Maple is squaring off against analyst Santiago Morales and retired deputy’s sheriff Henry Harry. Both Morales and Harry have run for office before.
Where is 5th District?
The district includes Oak Park, Hollywood Park, Magan Park and Parkway.
Who are the candidates?
Maple worked as a legislative advocate and as the vice president of government affairs and compliance for Perfect Union, a constellation of marijuana dispensaries in Northern California. She helped shape California’s cannabis policy, according to her biography.
A graduate of UC Davis, Maple is serving her first term. She was elected in 2022.
Her main priorities include housing affordability, investing in lighting and road repairs for long-overlooked neighborhoods, supporting small businesses, safer streets and an equitable city budget.
Morales was raised in Sacramento, graduating from Luther Bank High School.
He works at the state Department of Industrial Relations, and previously was employed at the Community College Chancellor’s Office, Covered California and the California Student Aid Commission. At each department, he said he helped residents access state programs.
He said his main priorities include balancing Sacramento’s budget, homelessness, affordable housing and public safety.
He ran unsuccessfully in 2020 in the 8th District.
Harry worked for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office for more than a decade before retiring.
His main priorities include lowering taxes, reducing domestic violence, balancing the city’s budget and homelessness, according to his website.
Harry launched an unsuccessful bid for City Council in 2010.
Endorsements
Maple has collected endorsements from a majority of the City Council, unions and state lawmakers.
Councilmember Lisa Kaplan is the only councilmember who has not endorsed Maple. Sacramento Democrats state Sen. Angelique Ashby and Assemblymember Maggie Krell also support Maple, according to Maple’s website.
The incumbent also collected endorsements from the Democratic Party of Sacramento, the Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522, North State Building Industry Association Political Action Committee and a constellation of various Democratic political groups based in the capital city.
Harry and Morales have not yet secured any official endorsements.
Campaign finance
Harry and Morales do not appear to have received any money for their campaigns.
Maple’s campaign reported $7,300 from the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber Political Action Committee, $5,300 Sacramento Central Labor Council and $1,500 from Jane Sadler, a policy advisor on the California Air Resources Board.
