Honestly, if you were watching the sacramento mayoral race 2024 back in November, you probably felt like you were staring at a frozen loading screen. For weeks, the city didn't actually know who its next leader would be. It was that close. One day Dr. Flojaune Cofer was up, the next Kevin McCarty took a lead, and the margin stayed so razor-thin that nobody could call it until the very last stacks of mail-in ballots were processed by the county.
Basically, we saw a battle between two very different versions of "progressive" Sacramento. On one side, you had McCarty, a seasoned Assemblymember with deep ties to the local political establishment. On the other, Dr. Cofer, an epidemiologist who brought a "people-powered" movement that didn't take a dime of corporate PAC money.
When the dust finally settled on December 2, 2024, Kevin McCarty was officially named the winner. He pulled in 96,433 votes (50.7%), while Cofer finished with 94,495 (49.3%). That's a difference of less than 2,000 votes in a city of over half a million people. Talk about every vote counting.
How Kevin McCarty Pulled It Off
McCarty didn't just stumble into the mayor's office. He’s been around. He served on the City Council for a decade before heading to the State Assembly in 2014. That experience was his main selling point. He framed himself as the "builder" and the guy who knew which levers to pull in the state capitol to get things done for Sacramento.
During the campaign, he focused heavily on the basics:
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- Audit everything. On day one, he promised a full audit of the city’s homelessness spending. People are frustrated that millions are spent while tents still line the sidewalks, and that resonated.
- The "Safe Grounds" approach. While Cofer pushed for more expansive social services, McCarty leaned into a mix of enforcement and structured tiny home villages.
- Police staffing. He made it clear he wanted to fill the vacancies in the Sacramento Police Department, a stance that earned him the backing of several law enforcement groups.
It wasn't a landslide. Far from it. In the March primary, McCarty actually came in second. He only got 21.8% of the vote, barely squeaking past former State Senator Dr. Richard Pan (21.6%) and Steve Hansen (21.2%). It was a four-way dogfight where the difference between moving on to November and going home was just a few hundred ballots.
The Flo Cofer Phenomenon
You can't talk about the sacramento mayoral race 2024 without acknowledging how much Dr. Flojaune Cofer shifted the conversation. She wasn't a career politician. She was a public health expert who had chaired the Measure U committee. Her campaign felt more like a grassroots uprising than a traditional political operation.
She won the primary handily with 28.3% of the vote. Her platform was built on "investing in people," which included radical ideas (for some) like shifting funds from the police budget into community-led emergency response teams. She wanted to end childhood homelessness in Sacramento by 2028. It was an ambitious, high-energy campaign that drew in younger voters and those who felt the Darrell Steinberg era hadn't moved fast enough on social equity.
Even though she lost, the fact that she came within 1.4 percentage points of winning—without corporate cash—is still being talked about in City Hall. It's a signal that a huge chunk of the city is looking for something fundamentally different than the status quo.
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The Big Issues That Decided the Vote
Why was it so close? Well, Sacramento is dealing with some heavy stuff right now. Homelessness is the elephant in every room. According to the 2024 Point-in-Time count, there are thousands of people living unsheltered in the county.
The debate wasn't about if the city should help, but how.
McCarty’s supporters generally favored "balanced" enforcement—clearing encampments when shelter is available. Cofer’s supporters often viewed that enforcement as criminalizing poverty.
Then you have the housing market. In his first State of the City address in late 2025, Mayor McCarty pointed out that homeownership for young adults in Sacramento has plummeted to 15%. The median home price is hovering around $550,000. For a lot of families, the "Sacramento Dream" is starting to feel like a myth.
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The race was essentially a referendum on who people trusted to fix the "Broken Sacramento" narrative. McCarty won the older, more established neighborhoods like East Sacramento and Land Park, while Cofer dominated in the central city and among younger, more diverse precincts.
Surprising Stats from the 2024 Election
The numbers tell a story of a city that is politically split right down the middle.
- Voter Turnout: About 75% of registered voters in the county cast a ballot. That’s high for a local race, largely driven by the presidential election at the top of the ticket.
- The Primary Gap: In March, only 293 votes separated McCarty from Richard Pan. If 150 people had changed their minds, McCarty wouldn't even have been in the general election.
- The Money: McCarty raised significantly more from traditional donors, but Cofer had a much higher number of individual small-dollar contributions.
What Happens Now?
Kevin McCarty was sworn in as the 57th Mayor of Sacramento on December 10, 2024. He hit the ground running with a focus on "tiny home" villages and streamlining the city's building department. He's also pushing for a real estate transfer tax adjustment in 2026 to create a permanent funding stream for affordable housing.
But he’s working with a City Council that isn't always on the same page. With progressive members like Katie Valenzuela and Mai Vang still holding influence, McCarty has to play the role of the ultimate diplomat.
If you're a Sacramento resident, the sacramento mayoral race 2024 was more than just a change in name on the office door. It was a clear message to the folks at 915 I Street: the city is impatient. People want to see the tents gone, the rents stabilized, and the streets safe—and they aren't particularly interested in excuses about "budget gaps."
Actionable Insights for Sacramento Residents
If you want to stay involved or see how the new administration is doing, here is what you can actually do:
- Watch the Homelessness Audit: Keep an eye on the results of the city's audit of homelessness services. This was a core McCarty promise and will dictate how your tax dollars are spent in 2025 and 2026.
- Attend City Council Meetings: They happen every Tuesday. If you care about where those new tiny home villages go, show up and speak during public comment.
- Monitor the 2026 Tax Proposal: The mayor is already talking about a real estate transfer tax for high-value sales. This will likely be on your ballot in a couple of years, so start looking into how it would affect local property values now.
- Check the District Maps: Some of the closest votes in the mayoral race happened in areas undergoing gentrification. Use the city's GIS portal to see how your specific neighborhood voted and what projects are slated for your area.