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Election Endorsements

These are The Sacramento Bee’s election endorsements for Sacramento County-area races | Opinion

Sacramento mayor candidate Flojaune Cofer, right, listens as his opponent Kevin McCarty responds to a question during a mayoral debate sponsored by The Sacramento Bee and KVIE on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024.
Sacramento mayor candidate Flojaune Cofer, right, listens as his opponent Kevin McCarty responds to a question during a mayoral debate sponsored by The Sacramento Bee and KVIE on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. hamezcua@sacbee.com

The most important job of The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board is to research and interview the candidates seeking elective office, as well as the advocates for and against the local measures and statewide propositions on your ballot.

Once the research and interviews are done, we deliberate and do what you do on Election Day: We make a choice. Then we explain the choice to our readers in our endorsement editorials.

All of our editorials are unsigned because they represent the editorial positions of The Bee and the members of our board. Those board members are: Executive Editor Colleen McCain Nelson, California Opinion Editor Marcos Breton, Op-Ed Editor Hannah Holzer, and columnists Robin Epley, Tom Philp and LeBron Antonio Hill.

Unlike bettors in NFL games, our job is not to handicap winners; the goal is to be informative. We do the work, learn the issues and explain our endorsements in the races we cover as a resource for our readers as they consider their own ballots.

This year’s general election ballot is filled with a presidential race, a U.S. Senate race, congressional races, legislative races, local government races, school board races, local measures and statewide propositions. All await your important selections ahead of Election Day on Nov. 5.

In the Sacramento area alone, this Editorial Board has made endorsements in nearly 40 races.

Here are the endorsements of The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board in Sacramento County races.

Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, speaks during a news conference at the rail station in Sacramento on Thursday, April 17, 2014.
Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, speaks during a news conference at the rail station in Sacramento on Thursday, April 17, 2014. Randall Benton Sacramento Bee file

California Legislature

California Assembly, 6th District

The Bee’s Choice: “The Bee Editorial Board endorses a veteran prosecutor for the California Assembly”

California Assembly, 7th District

The Bee’s Choice: “Here’s The Bee’s endorsement in one of California’s most-watched legislative elections”

Mayoral candidate Flo Cofer puts up a yard sign Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at the home of Land Park resident Ashley Osterlund home while out canvassing for voter support.
Mayoral candidate Flo Cofer puts up a yard sign Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at the home of Land Park resident Ashley Osterlund home while out canvassing for voter support. Lezlie Sterling lsterling@sacbee.com

Sacramento City Council

Mayor

The Bee’s Choice: “For Sacramento mayor, The Bee endorses a candidate who can disrupt City Hall”

Sacramento City Council, 2nd District

The Bee’s Choice: “If one area of Sacramento needs leadership this election, it’s Council District 2”

ELK GROVE CITY COUNCIL

Mayor, District 1, District 3

The Bee’s Choice: “Elk Grove’s leaders should take responsibility for their decisions before election”

City of Folsom

Folsom City Council, District 2, District 4

The Bee’s Choice: “Two candidates will strengthen a Folsom City Council facing challenges”

Measure G

The Bee’s Choice: “Folsom’s city finances are ailing. Is a sales tax hike called Measure G the cure?”

Rancho Cordova City Council

District 1, District 3, District 4

The Bee’s Choice: “This Sacramento suburb is lucky to have smart incumbents in the 2024 election”

Sacramento Municipal Utility District

Ward 1, Ward 5

The Bee’s Choice: “The Bee endorsements in SMUD board elections: Is the utility heading in right direction?”

Sacramento County elections office assistant Kinu Van Vorhis passes out ballets during a mock election at West Campus High School in Sacramento on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. Students picked between fictional candidates, such as superhero secret identities Tony Stark and Peter Parker, as they learned about the voting process.
Sacramento County elections office assistant Kinu Van Vorhis passes out ballets during a mock election at West Campus High School in Sacramento on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. Students picked between fictional candidates, such as superhero secret identities Tony Stark and Peter Parker, as they learned about the voting process. Renée C. Byer rbyer@sacbee.com

Sacramento City Unified School District

Area 3, Area 4

The Bee’s Choice: “The Bee endorses these two candidates for the Sacramento City Unified school board”

Sacramento County Measures

Measure D

The Bee’s Choice: “Measure D funds $543 million in renovations for Sacramento schools. Should it pass?”

Measure E

The Bee’s Choice: “Parcel taxes for Sacramento libraries will expire. Measure E would extend funding”

Measure O

The Bee’s Choice: “Sacramento Metro Fire’s Measure O would upgrade equipment in a first-ever voter appeal”

BEHIND THE STORY

MORE

What are editorials, and who writes them?

Editorials represent the collective opinion of The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board.

They do not reflect the individual opinions of board members or the views of Bee reporters in the news section. Bee reporters do not participate in editorial board deliberations or weigh in on board decisions. The same rules apply to our sister publications, The Modesto Bee, Fresno Bee, Merced Sun-Star and San Luis Obispo Tribune.

In Sacramento, our board includes Bee Executive Editor Colleen McCain Nelson, McClatchy California Opinion Editor Marcos Breton, opinion writers Robin Epley, Tom Philp, LeBron Antonio Hill and op-ed editor Hannah Holzer.

In Fresno and Merced, the board includes Central Valley Executive Editor Don Blount, Senior Editor Christopher Kirkpatrick, Opinion Editor Juan Esparza Loera, and opinion writer Tad Weber.

In Modesto, the board includes Senior Editor Carlos Virgen and in San Luis Obispo, it includes Opinion Editor Stephanie Finucane.

We base our opinions on reporting by our colleagues in the news section, and our own reporting and interviews. Our members attend public meetings, call people and follow-up on story ideas from readers just as news reporters do. Unlike objective reporters, we share our judgments and state clearly what we think should happen based on our knowledge.

Read more by clicking the arrow in the upper right.

Tell us what you think

You may or may not agree with our perspective. We believe disagreement is healthy and necessary for a functioning democracy. If you would like to share your own views on events important to the Sacramento region, you may write a letter to the editor (150 words or less) using this form, or email an op-ed (650-750 words) to opinion@sacbee.com. Due to a high volume of submissions, we are not able to publish everything we receive.

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