McCarty At Victory’s Doorstep

Robert J. Hansen | OBSERVER Staff WriterTwo political experts are calling the Sacramento mayoral race for Assemblymember Kevin McCarty.“It’s over,” Paul Mitchell, vice president of a bipartisan voter data firm Political Data, told The OBSERVER on Tuesday.Mitchell said that at most 7,000 votes remain to count for the race and that Dr. Flojaune Cofer would have to win 75% of the remaining votes, which, he said, “isn’t going to happen.”McCarty led 51% to 49% and by roughly 3,000 votes, according to the county’s most recent election results released at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday.Ryan Brown, chief of staff to Councilmember Caity Maple, agreed with Mitchell.“There’s just no path to victory with the required 66% margin. It’s not there,” Brown posted on X.Brown congratulated McCarty on the victory while also lauding Cofer’s performance.“This was a remarkable race,” Brown’s post continued. “[Cofer] should be immensely proud of the campaign that she and her team ran, and for significantly moving the needle on progressive values in Sacramento.”Cofer’s campaign, however, is not ready to concede.“We’re closing the gap. This is a very close race with thousands of ballots left to count. We look forward to watching the rest of the vote count unfold,” Jeff Rousset, Cofer’s...