Sacramento County Elections & Politics Digest

Mayor Tim Schaefer and City Manager Ash Feeney presented the 2023 State of the City address, highlighting the Citrus Heights’ achievements over the past year and outlining goals for the future.

Campaign finance disclosures show the Nov. 7 special election for a key school board seat in the San Juan Unified School District is drawing some significant interest from donors, including a $10,000 donation from a teachers association political action committee.

Public health advocate Dr. Flojaune Cofer, who was also chair of the Measure U Community Advisory Committee, would be the first Black woman to serve as mayor of Sacramento if she is elected.

An independent investigator found the city of Sacramento’s campaign contribution rules are confusing and recommended a commission not punish two candidates who are facing ethics complaints. 

California cities can ban synthetic turf under a law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed. He rejected a bill to ban PFAS in fake lawns.

Sacramento residents will vote for a new mayor in the March 2024 primary election.

Gov. Newsom vetoed bills to outlaw caste discrimination and to consider gender affirmation in child custody cases. Advocates wonder if he’s thinking about his national political profile.

It isn’t a coincidence that many speakers start public comments by introducing themselves as members or volunteers with activist organizations.

Michael Tubbs is well aware of the sobering statistics about American poverty. He did something about it while mayor of Stockton, creating a guaranteed income program.

The governor signed two other bills that strengthen protections for grocery workers during grocery store mergers and acquisitions.

Heated conversation over “parent rights” and notification policies have played out at several board meetings in the Sacramento area over recent weeks.

Ballots are scheduled to arrive in the mail for the Natomas Unified School District school board special election on Nov. 7. Six candidates are running for the school district’s Trustee Area 4 seat.

If California’s new U.S. senator runs in the 2024 election, she would likely have to court labor unions’ support, quickly. But with three other labor-friendly Democrats already winning union backing, time and resources are running out.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg is filing paperwork to raise funds to run for attorney general. “I am strongly considering running but only if the current AG chooses not to run for re-election,” Steinberg said in a message to the Sacramento Bee.

El Dorado County is part of California’s long history of secessionist sentiment. There have been more than 200 efforts to exit, and more than 200 times the movements have come to naught. But some locals are trying again.

Student workers at the 23-campus system say their pay is low, their hours are restricted and they get no sick pay. They are hoping to join the employees union to fix that.

Gov. Newsom's pick to replace the late Dianne Feinstein is set to be sworn in Tuesday as California's U.S. senator. She isn't saying whether she will run next year, but if she does, it would change the dynamics of the U.S. Senate race.

Newsom rejected Senate Bill 799, which would have paid striking workers California unemployment benefits after two weeks, and SB 686, which would have extended workplace safety protections to domestic workers, such as housekeepers and nannies.

What is appropriate to teach on sexual diversity in schools? The Elk Grove School Board focused at length on this question Sept. 20.

Local attorney Carmen-Nicole Cox, serving as ACLU California Action’s director of government affairs, is making a case for restored voting rights for incarcerated individuals. She is pushing for legislation that would remove the part of California’s constitution that disqualifies people serving in a state or federal prison from voting.

GOP leaders and activists will hear Friday from Donald Trump and other presidential candidates before deciding whether to change the party platform on abortion and same-sex marriage.

A committee voted 3-1 to add youth seats to boards and commissions instead of establishing a position for someone between the ages of 16 and 24 to advise the Sacramento City Council.

The council unanimously voted for the map creating five districts and is scheduled to officially adopt its new election system on Oct. 2. Three councilmembers will live in the same district; if they all decide to run in District 4 next fall, only one can win.

But these days, rural Democrats, in Siskiyou especially, feel surrounded by increasingly empowered conspiracy theorists, separatists, and extremists. They sense that grassroots organizing is more important than ever.

Unions won major victories this session on pay for fast food and health care workers, benefits for strikers and bargaining rights. Business groups say that labor has too much power at the Capitol.

California is deliberating the possibility of opting for an outreach and advertising campaign to promote pro-LGBTQ messages.

Ray Riehle, a local business owner and Citrus Heights Water District board member, announced that he is running for a seat in the United States Congress, currently held by Ami Bera.

About 5,300 companies would file annual emissions reports. The aim is to hold corporations accountable for the role they play in climate change.

A bipartisan bill would create a state ombudsperson to intervene when public records requests are denied. But an advocacy group is concerned that it will encourage state agencies to go to court.

A recent poll conducted by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies reveals that an overwhelming majority of California voters oppose the notion of cash payments as reparations for the descendants of enslaved African Americans.

The Legislature is approving lots of significant bills in the final days of the session. But the final call is up to the governor, and he isn’t shy about using his veto pen.

"Shasta County is not our own country," said Tim Garman, a Shasta County supervisor who opposed the hand-counting effort. "We don't get to make all of our own laws.”