Political Outsider Reflects On Run For Mayor

The California Primary Election is over. For some candidates, their first foray into politics may be their last. Sacramento mayoral candidate and three-time world boxing champion Tony Lopez came out swinging in his first political fight and challenged the establishment when he announced his campaign last December.

"I'm not a politician; I'm never gonna be a politician," he says. "Even if I was mayor of Sacramento, I wouldn't be a politician. I just want to do things right."

He quickly learned he would be asked to explain things he said and defend comments he posted on social media.

"You know, I learned a lot about Sacramento," he says. "I learned a lot about the game, and that's kind of really what it is. It's just a game."

Lopez says that wasn't the only thing he learned.

"And I tell you what, I learned about that arena, I learned a lot about a lot of different stuff about the city of Sacramento," he says. "Because, if you're going run it, you should know about it. So, I dug into it, and I dug deep."

He says he's grateful to the people who supported him, but he doesn't know if he'll enter the political ring again.

"I don't really know if I want to, though," he says. "I gotta sit back and really think about it. I'm not saying 'no.' But, I'm not saying 'yeah."

Lopez received about nine percent of the vote. Opponent Angelique Ashby received 26.17 percent and the winner of tdhe race, Darrell Steinberg, got 58.96 percent of the vote.