Early wins special election, becoming West Sacramento’s first Black council member
Dawnté Early handily defeated Duane Wilson in Tuesday’s special election for a vacant City Council seat in West Sacramento and is set to become the city’s first Black council member.
Early received 62% of the vote compared to 38% for Wilson in the head-to-head contest, according to a final tabulation posted by the Yolo County Elections Office just after midnight. Just over 8,700 ballots were cast in the race.
West Sacramento’s fifth council seat became vacant when then-Councilwoman Martha Guerrero replaced long-time incumbent Christopher Cabaldon as mayor in the 2020 election.
Early and Wilson finished third and fourth, respectively, in last November’s council race, which awarded open seats to the top two finishers among five candidates.
Quirina Orozco won a plurality with 33.2% of the vote, followed by Norma Alcala at 23.5%, both elected to four-year terms ending 2024.
Early finished third by a tiny margin in 2020, getting 23.2% and losing the second seat to Alcala by just 89 votes out of nearly 35,000 cast. Wilson finished fourth with 15.3% of the vote.
Guerrero and the council had the option of selecting an appointee to fill the vacant seat, but a special election was ultimately scheduled instead, consolidated on the date of the recall election for Gov. Gavin Newsom this Tuesday. Registered voters began receiving mail-in ballots in August.
Both candidates in Tuesday’s special election earned key endorsements, according to their campaign websites. Orozco, State Controller Betty Yee, state Sen. Richard Pan and California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond endorsed Early. Guerrero, Alcala, the Yolo County Democratic Party and California Treasurer Fiona Ma endorsed Wilson.
Early, chief of research and evaluation for the state Mental Health Services and Oversight Commission, has a master’s degree in child development and a doctorate in human development from UC Davis. Her campaign priorities included homelessness, equity and child care access.
Wilson, a local businessman and West Sacramento resident of 18 years, in his campaign called for green urban planning, expansion of fiber broadband internet and affordable housing.
Because she will fill Guerrero’s seat and finish her term ending in 2022, Early will be up for reelection next year, meaning she’ll be campaigning again in just a few months.
