Your guide to Sacramento’s 1st District City Council primary race
The Sacramento City Council 1st District race to represent North Natomas and Robla drew little attention before Mayor Kevin McCarty entered the chat.
Incumbent Lisa Kaplan is running for re-election. But the mayor and the other council member representing Natomas, Karina Talamantes, put their political weight behind Kaplan’s opponent: former FBI specialist Jenn Chawla.
There are two other contested City Council seats on the ballot this year, in the 5th and 7th districts. Unlike in the North Natomas race, McCarty and Talamantes have backed the incumbents: District 7 Councilmember Rick Jennings and District 5 Councilmember Caity Maple.
Information technology specialist Venkant Mechineni is also running for the District 1 seat.
Where is 1st District?
The district represents parts of North Natomas — including the neighborhoods of Westlake, Northlake and Natomas Park — and parts of Robla.
Who are the candidates?
Kaplan is a McGeorge School of Law graduate and has a private practice focused on education and construction policy.
She is a Los Angeles native who moved to Sacramento in 1997. Kaplan entered local politics in 2002 as a Natomas Unified School District Board trustee. Kaplan served on the school board for 12 years.
Natomas constituents elected Kaplan to the City Council in 2022 for her first term.
Her priorities include public safety, a “smarter” budget as City Hall grapples with revenues failing to meet expenses, maintaining parks, empowering youth and families and keeping her district clean.
Chawla was born in New Delhi, India, and came to the United States as a toddler with her mother and three sisters.
She was the first one in her family to go to a four-year university, attending UC San Diego. She moved back to Sacramento in 2011 and soon joined the FBI as an operational support technician.
She ascended within the ranks to become an investigative specialist. But the 2024 election of President Donald Trump prompted her to quit the agency.
Her priorities include public safety, homelessness, being transparent and accountable, economic development and expanding programs for youth.
Mechineni came to Sacramento in 2005 and said he learned about community issues through leadership positions in local organizations.
He has served as the president of the Indian Association of Sacramento, and was vice president for eight years of the Carriage Lane Homeowners Association.
Mechinieni has worked for more than 25 years in information technology industry. He works on the Financial Information System for California, the state’s accounting, budget, cash management and procurement system, according to his LinkedIn profile.
His priorities include homelessness, safety for better neighborhoods and helping small businesses.
Endorsements
Though Sacramento’s mayor declined to support Kaplan, the incumbent has endorsements from a number of longtime political figures.
Kaplan has the support of Sacramento Democrats state Sen. Angelique Ashby and Assemblymember Maggie Krell; Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper; Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho; former Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and California Treasurer Fiona Ma.
She also garnered endorsements from all of Sacramento County’s supervisors except for Phil Serna, and Sacramento City Council members Phil Pluckebaum and Rick Jennings. The Sacramento Police Officers Association, Teamsters Local 150 union and the Women Democrats of Sacramento County have backed Kaplan.
Chawla has also received support from Democrat-aligned groups.
In addition to McCarty and South Natomas Councilmember Talamantes, Chawla counts the unions SEIU 2015 — representing healthcare workers — and Unite Here Local 49 as backers to her bid.
The Sacramento Central Labor Council and the Sacramento Democratic Party of Sacramento County have also endorsed Chawla.
Chawla also has the support of Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen, D-Elk Grove.
Mechineni has not received any endorsements.
Campaign finance
Kaplan raised more money than Chawla as of early April — but the first-time candidate has raised significant funds.
Chawla raised $107,349 and reported $82,448 in cash on hand. Kaplan accumulated $89,998 and held $139,091 in cash on hand, according to The Sacramento Bee’s previous reporting.
Contributions to Kaplan’s campaign include $7,300 from the Committee for Home Ownership of the Northstate Building Industry Association, $4,400 from the Maggy Krell for Assembly 2026 campaign and $2,600 from the San Francisco Laborer’s Local 261, which represents construction workers and general laborers.
Contributions to Chawla’s campaign include $7,300 from the Sacramento Central Labor Council, $1,000 from the Sacramento County Democratic Central Committee, $2,000 from lawmaker Nguyen and $2,200 from McCarty for Mayor 2028 Committee.
Mechineni had not filed campaign documents with the city as of mid-April.
