Here’s who’s running for Sacramento mayor in 2024

Updated Feb. 1, 5:45 p.m.

Sacramento residents can choose from six candidates when casting their vote for the city’s next mayor in the March 5 primary election. 

The candidates are, in alphabetical order, business owner Jose Avina, epidemiologist Dr. Flojaune Cofer, Asset Protection Manager Julius Engel, former City Council member Steve Hansen, state Assembly member Kevin McCarty and former state lawmaker Dr. Richard Pan. 

Candidates for Sacramento mayor answer questions ahead of March 2024 election

If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, the leading two candidates will face off in a November runoff election. The winner will begin serving a four-year term in December.

The mayor of Sacramento runs City Council meetings and appoints members to boards, commissions and advisory agencies. Sacramento’s mayor represents and is elected by the entire city, unlike council members who represent certain districts. The mayor is responsible for interpreting the city’s policies and needs, according to the city charter. 

Sitting Mayor Darrell Steinberg is not seeking a third term. He announced his decision not to run for reelection last May, saying he’s open to seeking state office, but has not made any decisions. In a speech in the council chambers with city officials surrounding him, Steinberg said he is committed to serving as mayor until the end of his term in December 2024. 

“I have nothing but great feelings and hope and belief for the future of this city,” Steinberg said.

He hasn’t endorsed a candidate to succeed him, but has said he hopes his successor continues working on finding a balance between providing core services and investing directly in Sacramento’s communities. 

Steinberg has served as mayor since December 2016, when he returned to city government after leading the state Senate as President pro Tempore. He was a Sacramento City Council member from 1992 to 1998 before serving in the state Assembly and Senate for 16 years. 

In his two terms as mayor, Steinberg has led the city during the COVID-19 pandemic, a rise in homelessness and protests after Sacramento police killed Stephon Clark. He also negotiated a settlement to build UC Davis’ Aggie Square in Oak Park, campaigned for the passage of the Measure U sales tax and pushed for more city shelter spaces. 

But Steinberg, who will continue serving as mayor until December 2024, has said his authority as mayor is limited. Whoever wins the 2024 election must navigate Sacramento’s council-manager form of government, which is sometimes called a weak-mayor system. Under this system, the city manager is Sacramento's chief executive officer, proposes the budget and has the power to hire, discipline and fire city department heads. 

Previous efforts to switch the city to a strong-mayor form of government — including Measure A in 2020 and Measure L in 2014 — failed to get enough votes. Steinberg himself proposed Measure A, but 57% of voters opposed it. A mayor has more executive power under a strong-mayor system and California cities using it include Oakland, Fresno, Los Angeles and San Diego.

Flo Cofer makes first announcement

The 2024 Sacramento mayoral race began April 19, 2023 with epidemiologist and progressive organizer Flojaune Cofer making the first public campaign announcement ahead of the primary next March. 

Cofer, the senior director of policy for the nonprofit Public Health Advocates, served as the chair of the Measure U Community Advisory Committee from 2019 through 2022. She launched her campaign with a speech in front of City Hall, saying her goals include investing in youth violence prevention programs, affordable housing and climate change mitigation. 

“I think it's important for elections to have real choices and I'm offering a progressive choice," Cofer said. “I'm offering a choice to bring a different flavor and culture to city hall."

If elected, Cofer would be the city’s first Black female mayor. Only three Black women have served as Sacramento council members: Callie Carney, Lauren Hammond and Bonnie Pannell. 

More than 50 people attended Cofer’s campaign kick-off speech last April, including pediatrician Dr. Tiffani Johnson. Johnson said she believes Cofer’s public health background and commission experience means she will put together policies to keep children safe and healthy. It would also be meaningful for children to see a mayor who looks like them, she added. 

“Having her voice and having her perspective, standing up for black women, it's important,” Johnson said. “But I also know that Flo [Cofer] is someone who stands up for all people.”

Cofer has gotten an endorsement from Bridgitte Dean, the former director of the city’s Department of Community Response, which oversees homeless services.

“Dr. Cofer’s leadership, fearlessness and advocacy in her efforts to create lasting change in Sacramento have led to collaborative partnerships and crucial conversations focused on system change, mental health, homelessness and community safety,” Dean said in a press release. “As Sacramento’s mayor she will leverage our existing city resources to ensure safety, dignity, and respect for everyone.”

Epidemiologist and progressive organizer Flojaune Cofer announces plans to run for Sacramento mayor in 2024 at a press conference at Sacramento City Hall on April 19, 2023.Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

Maggy Krell drops out 

Prosecutor Maggy Krell was the second person to launch a mayoral campaign back on April 27, 2023 through a 30-second video. But in June last year, Krell told supporters in an email she will instead run for state assembly. 

Similar to her mayoral campaign announcement, Krell again cited her experience as chief legal counsel for Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and a deputy attorney general in the state Department of Justice.

“But I’ve also seen loopholes, unintended consequences, and well-meaning policies that don’t work,” Krell said in the email to supporters. “I’m running for Assembly to write laws that get real results.”

Krell wrote a book about prosecuting human trafficking cases that was published in January 2022. She has lived in Sacramento for more than 20 years and received her law degree from UC Davis, according to her website. 

Sacramento Prosecutor and Author Maggy Krell.Courtesy of Maggy Krell

Kevin McCarty announces run 

State Assembly member Kevin McCarty announced his run for mayor through an email sent on May 25, 2023 during a press conference in which Steinberg announced he would not seek re-election. McCarty has represented parts of the city and county of Sacramento in the state legislature since December 2014 and previously served on the Sacramento City Council. 

“I’m a homegrown Sacramentan ready to lean in to tackle our problems head-on,” McCarty said in an emailed statement. “We need real solutions to address homelessness and housing affordability, grow our economy, support our workers and families while improving neighborhood safety and livability. I’ll bring my experience as a neighborhood leader, Housing and Redevelopment Commissioner, City Councilmember and State Assemblymember to build partnerships and deliver results for Sacramento."

McCarty was on the council from 2004 to 2014. He represented District 6, which includes Tahoe Park, Little Saigon and Campus Commons. When he won his state assembly race in 2014, McCarty left the council in the middle of a third term. 

He has not hit his 12-year term limit in the state legislature. McCarty won reelection to his assembly District 6 seat last November with about 64% of the vote.

In this June 15, 2017, photo, Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, speaks at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif.Rich Pedroncelli / AP Photo

Steve Hansen kicks off campaign  

Former Sacramento City Council member Steve Hansen launched his campaign for mayor on May 30, 2023 with a press release and video. Hansen has not held a publicly elected position since December 2020 and said he initially didn’t think he would run for office again. 

“The problems I warned about a decade ago — homelessness, the cost of living and neighborhood safety — have gotten worse,” Hansen said in the two-minute video. “It’s clear that we need real, transformational change and a mayor willing to fight for it.” 

Hansen served as a City Council member from 2012 to 2020 and represented neighborhoods including Land Park, South Land Park, River Oaks and Little Pocket. He lost his District 4 reelection campaign to Katie Valenzuela in the March 2020 primary.  

He was Sacramento’s first openly gay council member and if elected, would be the first out LGBTQ+ mayor.

Former Sacramento District 4 City Councilman Steve Hansen.Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

Richard Pan announces campaign

Former state lawmaker Dr. Richard Pan announced he is running for mayor in an Asian American political podcast episode posted June 11, 2023. 

Pan represented Sacramento in the state Assembly and state Senate from 2010 to 2014 and 2014 to 2022, respectively. He reached his term limit in the legislature, but told The Ronin Project Podcast host Bill Wong that he plans to run for city office. 

“I am seeking to be the first Asian American mayor in the city of Sacramento,” Pan said in the podcast. 

Jimmie Yee briefly served as interim mayor after the death of Mayor Joe Serna in 1999, but was not elected to the position. 

Since leaving the Senate in 2022, Pan has worked as a senior policy advisor to AAPI Data, which publishes demographic research on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Pan is also a pediatrician and former UC Davis professor.

State Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, center, discusses his proposed measure to have public health officials grant medical exemptions for vaccination instead of leaving the power to physicians, during a news conference, Tuesday, March 26, 2019.Rich Pedroncelli / AP Photo

Jose Avina and Julius Engel join race

Business owner Jose Avina and Asset Protection Manager Julius Engel joined the race months after the other candidates. They filed paperwork to run for mayor in December 2023. Both are political newcomers. 

Avina owns a gym, Sacramento Eco Fitness, and serves as a captain in the Marine Corps Reserve. He leads an annual event called Fitness for a Cause, which benefits Sacramento nonprofit organizations. 

Engel works in asset protection. He ran for the Yuba County Superior Court in 2012 and 2014, but lost both times. Engel was disbarred in 2020, according to the State Bar of California, and is prohibited from practicing law in California.

Sacramento mayoral candidate Jose Avina.Courtesy of Jose Avina

Sacramento mayoral candidate Julius Engel.Courtesy of Julius Engel

When is the mayoral election? 

The 2024 primary election is scheduled for March 5. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, the leading two candidates will face off in November 2024. Sacramento mayors serve four-year terms and do not have term limits.  

Sacramento’s last mayoral election took place in March 2020, when Steinberg won 77% of the vote. Voters elected Steinberg to his first term as mayor in June 2016. His predecessor, Kevin Johnson, didn’t run for reelection that year.

Editor's note: In 2022, as a state senator, Pan steered a million dollars in state budget funding to CapRadio to help pay for construction of CapRadio's new downtown studios.

Assembly member McCarty placed $2 million in the 2022 state budget to help pay for construction of CapRadio's new downtown studios. He has since put that funding on hold.

Steve Hansen joined CapRadio's governing board in 2021, after he left the city council. He resigned from the board in May 2023, prior to launching his mayoral campaign.

Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified which year Flojaune Cofer began serving as chair of the Measure U Community Advisory Committee. It has since been updated.