Kevin McCarty declares victory, Flo Cofer has yet to concede in race for Sacramento mayor
SACRAMENTO — California Assemblymember Kevin McCarty declared victory Tuesday evening in Sacramento's mayoral race.
Three weeks after Election Day, the race has remained close, with McCarty and epidemiologist Flo Cofer only separated by one percentage point of the tallied votes.
"I am honored to be the next Mayor of Sacramento. Thank you to my incredible supporters and campaign team, whose dedication and hard work made this victory possible," McCarty said in his statement posted to social media.
Despite MCarty's declaration of victory, Cofer has yet to concede the race.
"My 42nd birthday wish is to count every vote because every vote matters! I am deeply committed to the democratic process and to amplifying the voices of every Sacramentan. That's why I'm waiting until every single vote is counted before making any statements about the outcome of this election," Cofer said in a post to social media late Tuesday night.
One final round of voting results is expected to be released on Friday. The election results were then expected to be certified by December 3. The next mayor of Sacramento will be sworn in on December 10.
Cofer and McCarty, both Democrats, emerged from the March primary election as the top two candidates battling to succeed Darrell Steinberg as the next mayor of California's capital city.
Cofer, who has a PhD in epidemiology, has never held public office and would be the first Black woman elected mayor of Sacramento if she wins. McCarty has served in the California Assembly since 2014. During this time, he has served as the chair of the Assembly's budget subcommittee on education finance.
Prior to his time at the state level, McCarty served on the Sacramento City Council for a decade beginning in 2004. Before that, he started his career in local politics as the city's housing and redevelopment commissioner.
Some of McCarty's bills signed into law as an Assembly member include legislation to expand universal access to transitional kindergarten, create a mandatory drug treatment pilot program for repeat offenders and require financial literacy courses as a high school graduation requirement.
In the pair's debate in September, McCarty, 52, touted his experience in politics in an attempt to differentiate himself from Cofer, 41, in the eyes of voters.
But it was Cofer who fared best among the six candidates in the March primary, receiving 28% of votes cast to McCarty's 22%.
After earning her PhD, Cofer began her career at the California Department of Public Health and currently serves as the senior policy director for the nonprofit Public Health Advocates.
Cofer has also worked as a policy advisor for various organizations in the Sacramento area, including the city Active Transportation Commission, the county Sheriff's Outreach Community Advisory Board and the Mayor's Commission on Climate Change.
Since she announced her candidacy, she has maintained that her priority in office would be on increasing community safety while also addressing housing and homelessness — issues that have also been a focus of McCarty's campaign.
In June, Steinberg announced a nearly 30% decrease in Sacramento's homeless population based on a point-in-time count performed in January.
Steinberg, 65, announced in May 2023 that he would not seek reelection for a third term, opening the door for Sacramento residents to elect their first new mayor in eight years. In his announcement, he said this would be the end of his local service and he was open to potentially serving again at the state level.
Before serving as Sacramento's mayor, Steinberg was president pro tempore of the California State Senate under two governors — Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown — from 2008 to 2014. Prior to that, Steinberg was a member of the state Assembly from 1998 to 2004.
