Election Results: Cofer Holds Lead as McCarty Vaults to Second in Sacramento Mayor’s Race
BY ROSALIO AHUMADA AND ISHANI DESAI UPDATED MARCH 15, 2024 8:16 PM
The statistical dead heat in Sacramento County’s most-watched race is quickly solidifying. While a November runoff is all but expected, the top two candidates have become clearer.
The latest results — released Friday afternoon, 10 days after the primary — showed Flojaune Cofer increased her lead over her top rivals, and Assemblyman Kevin McCarty moved up to the second spot in what was a four-way race when the polls closed. Here are the percentages each candidate had following the latest tally:
▪ Flojaune Cofer with 28.28% of the vote
▪ Kevin McCarty, 21.81%
▪ Richard Pan, 21.63%
▪ Steve Hansen, 21.24%
While McCarty, who served on the City Council for 10 years before being elected to the Legislature in 2014, grabbed roughly 5,000 new votes in the latest tally, he was outpaced by Cofer, who pulled in more than 8,740 votes since the previous update on Tuesday. That was nearly double the votes gained by Pan and Hansen each.
Still, the race for second place remains tight — 531 votes separate McCarty from Hansen and only 162 votes separate McCarty from Pan, who led the race immediately after the polls closed March 5.
Nearly 93,000 mayoral ballots have been counted in the six-person race, and the number of uncounted city ballots is estimated by Political Data Inc. to be roughly 7,500 votes. Election officials said Friday that about 27,000 votes countywide remain uncounted.
PDI founder Paul Mitchell said Friday it was too soon to declare who would face Cofer in November’s runoff.
▪ In the 4th City Council District race to represent the central city and East Sacramento, Phil Pluckebaum remains in the lead with 53% over Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela who is at 44%. If the trend holds, Pluckebaum could win the seat outright, avoiding a November runoff.
▪ 6th District Councilman Eric Guerra has reached well over that 50% plus one threshold with 67.39%, avoiding a runoff with second-place Kevin Rooney (15%)
▪ In the City Council’s 2nd District race to succeed former Councilman Sean Loloee, Roger Dickinson is still leading with 45% followed by Stephen Walton with 16% and Kim Davie at 10.68%. A runoff with Dickinson is likely, based on Bee projections.
The races to decide winners in the other city races will take place during the Nov. 5 election for president.
SACRAMENTO MEASURE C
But the local measure to help shore up Sacramento’s budget shortfall with an increase on business and professional taxes is likely to fail.
Sacramento voters continued to oppose by 3 to 2 the city-backed Measure C, aimed at increasing tax rates for the first time since 1991 and would have raised about $3.7 million in the first year and an estimated $6 million in its fifth fiscal year.
City officials have said most businesses would have received a tax drop and major corporations would instead be liable for coughing up more money.
The initiative singled out categories of professionals — such as lawyers, surgeons, dentists, architects and others — to be responsible for higher rates no matter their annual earnings.
Friday’s results showed 61% of voters in the city voting down the initiative, which requires a simple majority. Ballot returns since Election Night have been consistently rejecting Measure C by the same margin.
SACRAMENTO COUNTY 4TH DISTRICT BOARD OF SUPERVISORS RACE
Folsom City Councilwoman Rosario Rodriguez increased her lead to nearly 52% of the vote in her three-way race for the 4th District seat on the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, the updated returns showed. If her lead holds, Rodriguez would win outright, avoiding a November runoff.
The outgoing supervisor, Sue Frost, said in July that she would not run for re-election for the district, which includes Citrus Heights, Folsom, Orangevale, Antelope, Rio Linda, Elverta, Gold River, Rancho Murieta, North Highlands, Carmichael, Foothill Farms and Fair Oaks.
Rodriguez, a conservative, was endorsed by Frost. Rodriguez ran against political newcomer and registered Democrat Braden Murphy and the conservative Citrus Heights Mayor Bret Daniels. Daniels had 26% of the vote in Friday’s updated results; Murphy had 22%.
The Board of Supervisors controls a nearly $9 billion budget and oversees the agencies that provide health and human services for all county residents. The supervisors also preside over the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office and the two county jails. If Rodriguez is elected, it would maintain the conservative trend in the northeast corner of the county.
The next batch of election results in Sacramento County is expected to be released Tuesday.