Kevin McCarty keeps lead against Flo Cofer in Sacramento mayoral race. Winner still unknown
Assemblyman Kevin McCarty maintained his lead in the race to become Sacramento’s next mayor while Flojaune Cofer gained enough votes to stay in the race Tuesday evening.
The latest batch of returns, which the county released at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, showed McCarty in the lead with about 52.8% and Cofer at about 47%.
McCarty has been in the lead ever since the county released its first batch of results at 8 p.m. on Election Night Nov. 5, when he was at 56%. Cofer has been narrowing the gap slightly ever since.
The winner will depend on how many of the uncounted ballots went to Cofer. The county has now counted 135,102 votes, according to county election result data. That’s compared to about 200,000, who likely cast a ballot, about 67%, said Paul Mitchell, vice president of bipartisan voting data firm Political Data Inc.
“This update really benefited Flo,” Mitchell said Tuesday. “But it’s still too close to call. This one will drag on.”
It takes the county so long to tabulate all the votes partly because they are still coming in from the mail, and partly because of challenged ballots.
The county will post a new batch of results Friday.
“The race was an 8-point McCarty lead, and it has reduced to a 6-point lead,” Mitchell said. “Flo Cofer won today’s update by eight points. She will have to win the remaining ballots by an even larger margin, more than a 10-point margin, if she is going to be successful.”
McCarty said in a statement posted to social media Friday: “I want to thank my supporters, volunteers, and all Sacramentans. 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.
“We feel optimistic about the trajectory with each new tally, and look forward to all of the votes being counted,” Cofer said in a statement to The Bee on Tuesday evening.
For the council seat to represent North Sacramento, former assemblyman Roger Dickinson maintained a strong lead over Realtor Stephen Walton, with 61% of the vote. Dickinson has not yet declared victory however.
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 12, 2024 at 5:34 PM.
