McCarty holds on to lead against Cofer in Sacramento mayoral race, Friday results show
Assemblyman Kevin McCarty remains in the lead in the Sacramento mayoral race, while opponent Flojaune Cofer made a slight gain, according to Friday election results. But the winner is still unknown.
The latest batch of returns, which the county released at 4:10 p.m. Friday, showed McCarty still in the lead with about 54% and Cofer at 46%.
Before Friday, the last batch of results were released 2 a.m. Wednesday, which showed McCarty up a percentage point, at about 55%, and Cofer down one, at 45%.
The county has now counted 113,724 votes, according to county election result data. That’s compared to about 200,000, who likely cast a ballot, about 57%, said Paul Mitchell, vice president of bipartisan voting data firm Political Data Inc.
Although Cofer’s percentage has been growing just slightly in the last four result drops, that trend matters, Mitchell said. At the end of Election Night in the March 5 primary, Cofer was in fourth place. As more results came in, she ultimately ended up in first on March 26.
“I want to thank my supporters, volunteers, and all Sacramentans,” McCarty said in a statement posted to social media around 6 p.m. “I’m pleased so far with the results. But with tens of thousands of ballots left to count, there is still a long way to go. I look forward to the next batch of results next week.”
McCarty, a state assemblyman and former councilman, got the support of Mayor Darrell Steinberg, as well as the city police union and District Attorney Thien Ho. Cofer, who is farther left, is a public health professional and former chair of a city commission tasked with advising council on how to spend new tax revenue. She was supported by councilwomen Katie Valenzuela and Mai Vang and the Democratic Socialists of America’s Sacramento chapter.
The new mayor along with two new council members will be sworn in on Dec. 10 — a meeting in which they will also need to consider whether to keep City Manager Howard Chan in his post.
This story was originally published November 8, 2024 at 4:44 PM.
