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Mayoral election in Sacramento, California (2024)

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← 2020
2024 Sacramento elections
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Election dates
Filing deadline: December 8, 2023
Primary election: March 5, 2024
General election: November 5, 2024
Election stats
Offices up: Mayor
Total seats up: 1 (click here for other city elections)
Election type: Nonpartisan
Other municipal elections
U.S. municipal elections, 2024

The city of Sacramento, California, held a general election for mayor on November 5, 2024. A primary was scheduled for March 5, 2024. The filing deadline for this election was December 8, 2023.

As of 2024, Sacramento did not have term limits for the position of mayor. Mayors served a four-year term.


Elections

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Candidates and results

General election

General election for Mayor of Sacramento

Kevin McCarty defeated Flojaune Cofer in the general election for Mayor of Sacramento on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Kevin McCarty
Kevin McCarty (Nonpartisan)
 
50.5
 
96,433
Image of Flojaune Cofer
Flojaune Cofer (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
49.5
 
94,495

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 190,928
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of Sacramento

The following candidates ran in the primary for Mayor of Sacramento on March 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Flojaune Cofer
Flojaune Cofer (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
29.2
 
30,272
✔
Image of Kevin McCarty
Kevin McCarty (Nonpartisan)
 
21.5
 
22,302
Image of Richard Pan
Richard Pan (Nonpartisan)
 
21.3
 
22,010
Image of Steve Hansen
Steve Hansen (Nonpartisan)
 
21.0
 
21,684
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Jose Avina II (Nonpartisan)
 
6.0
 
6,217
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Julius Engel (Nonpartisan)
 
1.0
 
1,013

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 103,498
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: California elections, 2024

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March 5, 2024
November 5, 2024

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Flojaune Cofer

Image of Flojaune Cofer

WebsiteFacebookTwitterYouTube

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "I’m tired of politicians serving their corporate donors and abandoning the public, so my people-powered campaign rejects corporate PAC money. As a public health expert and four-term chair of the Measure U committee, I’ll provide the leadership needed to solve our homelessness and housing crisis, make our streets safer, and create quality jobs while protecting our climate. At the Department of Public Health, I built coalitions to expand women’s health coverage and decreased infant mortality statewide. I’m an epidemiologist with a PhD in Public Health. For years I’ve advocated for bold action on housing and workers rights. I’m endorsed by labor unions, small business owners, progressive leaders, and community groups. My parents were public school teachers and union members. They taught me to fight for our community. I lost my dad at age eleven. He started smoking when Big Tobacco lobbyists lied about the dangers. Since then I’ve dedicated my life to passing policies that help us live longer and healthier lives. I hope you'll join our movement to build a Sacramento where all of us can thrive, not just those at the top."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Why should we trust the same politicians who got Sacramento into this mess to get us out of it? We need new leadership. As a public health expert and four-term chair of the Measure U committee, I’ll provide the leadership needed to solve our homelessness and housing crisis, make our streets safer, and create quality jobs while protecting our climate.

Housing is a human right. As mayor, I'll treat Sacramento's housing and homelessness crisis as a public health emergency on day one. We must expand tenant protections, homeless services, and affordable housing to make sure everyone in our city has a roof over their head.

It's time for a Green New Deal. Climate change is a challenge and an opportunity. Transforming our energy system to 100% renewable will enable us to create thousands of jobs from building new bike lanes, to weatherizing existing homes, planting trees, and building thousands of new units of sustainably designed affordable housing. I’ll implement Sacramento’s Climate Action Plan to achieve zero emissions. Sacramento can be a national leader for a just transition.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for Mayor of Sacramento in 2024.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Expand all | Collapse all

Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Flojaune_Cofer.png

Flojaune Cofer (Nonpartisan)

Why should we trust the same politicians who got Sacramento into this mess to get us out of it? We need new leadership. As a public health expert and four-term chair of the Measure U committee, I’ll provide the leadership needed to solve our homelessness and housing crisis, make our streets safer, and create quality jobs while protecting our climate.

Housing is a human right. As mayor, I'll treat Sacramento's housing and homelessness crisis as a public health emergency on day one. We must expand tenant protections, homeless services, and affordable housing to make sure everyone in our city has a roof over their head.

It's time for a Green New Deal. Climate change is a challenge and an opportunity. Transforming our energy system to 100% renewable will enable us to create thousands of jobs from building new bike lanes, to weatherizing existing homes, planting trees, and building thousands of new units of sustainably designed affordable housing. I’ll implement Sacramento’s Climate Action Plan to achieve zero emissions. Sacramento can be a national leader for a just transition.
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Flojaune_Cofer.png

Flojaune Cofer (Nonpartisan)

My parents were both public school teachers. Their former students often came by the house and sat at our dining room table getting help to fill out college admissions essays. My parents taught me the importance of taking care of each other. As a public health professional, I've built coalitions that decreased infant mortality by 14% statewide, and expanded women's health coverage nationwide under Obamacare with no copay. As four-term chair of the Measure U committee, I pushed city officials to spend our hard-earned taxpayer money in the ways people demanded - to address housing and homelessness. When politicians failed repeatedly to take serious steps to solve our housing and homelessness crisis, I decided to run for mayor.
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Flojaune_Cofer.png

Flojaune Cofer (Nonpartisan)

I'm an extrovert. I actually enjoy being around people, and I care about people.
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Flojaune_Cofer.png

Flojaune Cofer (Nonpartisan)

I’m running for mayor to build a Sacramento where all of our families can thrive, not just those at the top. I am running for mayor to serve the people. I’m not accepting money from corporate PACS that corrupt our politics. As mayor, I’ll provide the leadership to solve our homelessness and housing crisis, make our streets safer, and create quality jobs while protecting our climate. We’re building a people-powered movement for change.

As an epidemiologist, Senior Policy Director for Public Health Advocates, and four-term chair of the city’s Measure U committee I have built coalitions, advocated for change, and passed policies that benefited working families. As Mayor, I’ll work with you to build a city where all of us can thrive.

Strong leadership requires a commitment to running a people-powered government with explicit strategies outlined for transparency, accountability, and increasing public participation. Ultimately, mayoral leadership means collaborating with our diverse communities to build a city that serves and empowers all of its residents.
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Flojaune_Cofer.png

Flojaune Cofer (Nonpartisan)

Ending the housing and homelessness crisis and ensuring safe, affordable housing for all is a major reason for my decision to run, and will be my top priority as mayor of Sacramento. To address the growing housing crisis, we must help people remain in their homes, stem the flow of Sacramento families forced onto our streets, meet the needs of our unhoused neighbors, and increase our stock of affordable housing units.

As mayor I will reduce homelessness and reduce encampments by expanding safeground options that provide basic services to our unhoused neighbors, and puts them on a path to more permanent housing. I will work closely with our City Manager to ensure that we are continually identifying and establishing Safeground sites with access to water, trash pickup, toilets, showers, and laundry. To protect renters, I will expand tenant protections, educate tenants and landlords about their rights, and fund legal assistance for people who cannot afford it. I will address the homelessness crisis upstream by supporting programs that help keep people housed.

Additionally, I will support investment in permanent, supportive and affordable housing that includes publicly-owned units providing individualized wrap-around services for low-income, unhoused, and formerly incarcerated residents so they can contribute to our city and live with dignity.
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Flojaune_Cofer.png

Flojaune Cofer (Nonpartisan)

I love how much Sacramentans care about each other. Each year 30,000 people wake up early to do Run to Feed the Hungry to support the Food Bank. People in Sacramento know their neighbors, volunteer regularly and create nonprofits. This is a place where when people see a problem they roll up their sleeves and do something to help. Sacramento is a diverse, active and civic-minded community. I also love the trees, the rivers, and all the wonderful food!
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Flojaune_Cofer.png

Flojaune Cofer (Nonpartisan)

HOUSING & HOMELESSNESS

As mayor, I’ll treat this as a public health emergency. I'll reduce homelessness and encampments by expanding temporary shelter and safeground options that provide basic services, including water, trash pickup, toilets, showers — until shelter or permanent supportive housing gets secured. We also need homeless support services including addiction and mental health.

For every person we get rehoused in Sacramento, three more become homeless. We need to address the root causes of homelessness. I support Sacramento Forward, a program to expand tenant protections and build more affordable housing. I'll expand tenant protections to stop the flood of new people entering homelessness. We must also establish inclusionary housing, so a percentage of all new housing built is affordable. We can’t just build luxury units for people moving here from the Bay Area, raising home prices, and throwing long-term residents onto the streets. We must act now to ensure everyone in Sacramento has a roof over their head.

PUBLIC SAFETY Public safety means everyone can enjoy our city’s neighborhoods and walk around midtown and downtown without worrying. We should feel safe in our communities and across the city. Supporters have called me the “fund public safety” candidate because I’ll prioritize programs that prevent poverty and violence, in addition to supporting emergency response. Sacramento went two years without any youth homicides. Then politicians cut the youth programs that prevented homicides, and we’ve seen violence rise. We must reinvest in programs that prevent violence and poverty in order to keep everyone safe.

Climate Change

The climate crisis is a challenge and an opportunity to invest in our infrastructure, economy, and our families’ futures. Transforming our energy to 100% renewable will create thousands of jobs from building bike lanes, to weatherizing homes, planting trees, and building sustainably designed affordable housing.
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Flojaune_Cofer.png

Flojaune Cofer (Nonpartisan)

As the capital of the wealthiest state in the wealthiest country in the world, there's no reason why thousands of people should be sleeping on our streets and in our parks. Sacramento’s local and state officials should collaborate to address affordable housing, emergency preparedness, transportation, and climate action. Sacramento leaders have the unique opportunity to regularly interface with state leaders to ensure resources flow into the city.
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Flojaune_Cofer.png

Flojaune Cofer (Nonpartisan)

Public safety means everyone can enjoy our city’s neighborhoods and walk around midtown and downtown without worrying. We should feel safe in our communities and across the city. Supporters have called me the “fund public safety” candidate because I’ll prioritize investing in programs that prevent poverty and violence in the first place, in addition to supporting emergency response. Our goal should be to prevent crises, but be prepared for when they happen.

My plan protects real public safety for all Sacramentans, which means focusing on things proven to keep our communities safe, including services for mental health and drug addiction, instead of relying exclusively on policing. When police show up to a scene it often means that public safety has already been violated and someone got hurt, which we need to minimize. The safest places in America focus on crime prevention, including measures to stop gun violence, expand mental health care, protect youth from trauma, fund affordable housing, and create opportunities for people to thrive.

In 2020, Councilmember Schenirer and I worked to pass a resolution redefining public safety that names public safety services as comprising police, fire, emergency medical services, citywide emergency management, and youth-centered prevention services. Did you know that Sacramento went two years without any youth homicides? During the pandemic, politicians cut the youth programs that prevented homicides, and we’ve seen a rise in youth violence since then. As mayor, I will prioritize expanding the programs that we know keep young people safe, engaged, educated, and healthy.

The LAPD named 27 types of 9-1-1 calls where police shouldn't be the ones responding. Sacramento should follow. Our police too often respond to mental health and homelessness calls, which distracts them from violent crimes. The City’s Department of Community Response must be funded to respond to 9-1-1 calls about mental health and homelessness.
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Flojaune_Cofer.png

Flojaune Cofer (Nonpartisan)

The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board

Sacramento City Teachers Association Los Rios College Federation of Teachers SEIU United Healthcare Workers West SEIU 1021 SEIU 2015 Our Revolution Working Families Party Women Democrats of Sacramento National Women’s Political Caucus Fem Dems of Sacramento 100% Approved: Planned Parenthood of Mar Monte Sacramento City Teachers Association National Union of Healthcare Workers Wellstone Democrats Sacramento Sister Circle Queer Democrats Black Women Organizing for Political Action Sunrise Movement Social Justice PAC Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Showing Up for Racial Justice Higher Heights America Democratic Socialists of America Councilmember Mai Vang

Councilmember Katie Valenzuela



Mayoral partisanship

See also: Partisanship in United States municipal elections (2024)

Thirty-four of the 100 largest cities held mayoral elections in 2024. Once mayors elected in 2024, assumed office Democrats held 65 top-100 mayoral offices, Republicans 25, Libertarians held one, independents held two, and nonpartisan mayors held four. Three mayors' partisan affiliations were unknown.

The following top 100 cities saw a change in mayoral partisan affiliation in 2024:[1]


What was at stake?

Report a story for this election

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Candidate survey

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About the city

See also: Sacramento, California

Sacramento is the capital city of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. As of 2020, its population was 524,943.

City government

See also: Council-manager government

The city of Sacramento uses a council-manager system. In this form of municipal government, an elected city council, which includes the mayor and serves as the city's primary legislative body, appoints a chief executive called a city manager.[3][4]

Demographics

The following table displays demographic data provided by the United States Census Bureau.

Demographic Data for Sacramento, California
Sacramento California
Population 524,943 39,538,223
Land area (sq mi) 98 155,857
Race and ethnicity**
White 43.5% 56.1%
Black/African American 13.5% 5.7%
Asian 19.3% 14.8%
Native American 0.8% 0.8%
Pacific Islander 1.7% 0.4%
Other (single race) N/A 14.3%
Multiple 9.6% 7.9%
Hispanic/Latino 28.3% 39.1%
Education
High school graduation rate 85.9% 83.9%
College graduation rate 34.3% 34.7%
Income
Median household income $65,847 $78,672
Persons below poverty level 15.7% 12.6%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.


See also

Sacramento, California California Municipal government Other local coverage
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External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ As of January 7, 2025, the party affiliation of one mayor elected in 2024 was unknown. Ballotpedia contacted El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson's campaign in December to inquire about his party affiliation and had not yet received a reply. As incumbent Oscar Leeser was a Democrat, this decreased the net gain for Democrats from two to one.
  2. ↑ [San Antonio Express-News, "‘I’m a Democrat’: Mayor Ron Nirenberg campaigns for Kamala Harris, embraces party label," September 14, 2024]
  3. ↑ City of Sacramento Charter Art. IV, Sec. 40, accessed September 2, 2014
  4. ↑ City of Sacramento, "Office of the City Manager," accessed September 2, 2014
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