SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Ballots are still being counted in the Sacramento mayor's race.
The leading candidate is Flojaune 'Flo' Cofer with 29,628 votes. In the latest numbers released Tuesday, Kevin McCarty is now 7,664 votes behind Cofer.
Still, 212 votes separate McCarty from Pan, who is in third; and 338 votes separate Pan from Hansen, who is in fourth.
It's been a close race so far. After the final report on election night, only a few hundred votes separated the top candidates in the Sacramento mayoral race. The first wave of ballots favored Richard Pan, Steve Hansen and Kevin McCarty. Flo Cofer was in fourth, but those numbers have shifted as more ballots are counted.
With many votes still left to count, a lot can still change.
Tuesday Update
- Cofer: 29,628 (29.11%)
- McCarty: 21,964 (21.58%)
- Pan: 21,752 (21.37%)
- Hansen: 21,414 (21.04%)
- Avina: 6,034 (5.93%)
- Engel: 988 (0.97%)
After Tuesday's update, candidate Steve Hansen released a statement saying he would not be advancing to the runoff and that he called Cofer and McCarty earlier to congratulate them.
According to data from the Secretary of State’s Office, Sacramento County has the second most unprocessed ballots in California, with Los Angeles County with the highest.
Sacramento County spokesperson Ken Casparis said that doesn't take into consideration the large size of the county and the number of registered voters. More than 300,000 ballots were cast in this election.
Six Sacramento mayoral candidates qualified for the March 5 Primary ballot. The top two vote-getters will advance to the General Election in November unless one candidate gets more than 50% of the vote.
The next vote count update for Sacramento County is scheduled for Friday, March 22.
Current Mayor Darrell Steinberg announced last year he will not seek a third term, so he will finish out his current term and step aside at the end of the year.
Votes will continue to be counted in the next few weeks. The last day for county elections offices to certify the election results is April 4.
ELECTION RESOURCES:
► Stay updated with our politics page for all the latest election news.
► Track your ballot status with the Where's My Ballot tool.
► Key Dates: According to the California Secretary of State’s office, the last day for county election officials to certify the primary election results is April 4
