Mai Vang claims Sacramento’s District 8 City Council seat after Les Simmons’ concession
Pastor Les Simmons conceded the race for Sacramento’s District 8 City Council seat this weekend, as Mai Vang pulled ahead in votes.
The most recent results from the Sacramento County elections office show Vang with a lead of nearly 700 votes, a margin that is unlikely to flip as the final ballots are tallied.
Following a call from Simmons conceding the race Saturday, Vang became the first Asian-American woman elected to City Council, as well as the first person of Hmong descent to hold that office.
Simmons wrote out a statement Saturday acknowledging the statistical improbability of a win for him at this point in the counting process.
“It has been an honor to run for City Council, and to have had the support and friendship of so many of you. However, it is clear from the results so far and the estimated votes left to be counted that this election will not go the way we would have hoped,” Simmons wrote. “With so many challenges facing our society, it is time for us to come together to heal and stand behind our next Councilmember and ensure she succeeds.”
Vang took to social media shortly afterward to thank her supporters for the victory.
“This grassroots win is dedicated to all our youth, elders, residents, community leaders,” she said. “This victory belongs to you ... Now, let’s get to work.”
Vang, along with councilwoman-elect Katie Valenzuela of District 4, represents a distinctly progressive wing of Sacramento politics.
Vang was endorsed in October by high-profile Vermont senator and former presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, and has campaigned on key progressive issues including affordable housing and rent control in the city. Measure C, which was supported by Vang and would have instituted strict rent price controls, was defeated.
Both Vang and Simmons had proponents on the City Council. Vang received full-throated support from Valenzuela, as well as Angelique Ashby, Allen Warren and Larry Carr, who Vang previously worked for. Simmons, meanwhile, was backed by councilmen Rick Jennings, Jay Schenirer and Steve Hansen, who was unseated by Valenzuela in March.
The race for District 8, which includes the Meadowview and Parkway neighborhoods, went to a runoff in March, although Vang led considerably over Simmons at the time by a margin of about 16%.
Vang, currently a Sacramento City Unified School District board member, will take her place on the dais in December and replace Carr, who did not seek reelection. She and Valenzuela are likely to be close allies at City Hall, as they share much in terms of policy agenda. Both were vocal in their support of Measure C, but also in their opposition to Measure A, which would have altered Sacramento’s city charter in order to consolidate more power in the office of the mayor. That measure, like Measure C, was rejected by a wide margin.
“To all the young folx & Hmong daughters — I hope you know that there is a community that is hungry for your leadership,” Vang wrote to supporters on social media Sunday. “You are not alone, your dreams are never too big & I’m going to be right by your side.”
