Sacramento City Council’s 2022 races

Today we'll be discussing the launch of the 2022 election cycle, looking at races local to the Sacramento region.

As a launching point, we'll talk about Yousef Baig's Sacramento Bee piece on the need for fresh faces on the Sacramento City Council. While we disagree with his ongoing cheerleading for a strong mayor form of government, we do agree that the majority of the current council needs to go. Here are the seats that are up for election this year:
 
District 3
On Monday, January 24, Karina Talamantes threw her hat in the ring for this newly drawn district, currently represented by Councilmember Jeff Harris. A former Bernie supporter, Talamantes has the support of council's two most progressive members. She also, however, is the chief of staff of current conservative Democrat CM Angelique Ashby.
 
Also in the running is Michael Lynch, the executive director of Improve Your Tomorrow, who last election cycle put his weight behind Mayor Darrell Steinberg's "strong mayor" ballot initiative.
 
Oh, and have we mentioned Jeff Harris? He likely would have run again, but his neighborhood of East Sacramento has been drawn into Katie Valenzuela's District 4. Will he move to South Natomas to hold onto his seat?
 
District 5
Originally the most interesting race in the region, this election pits homeless advocate and cannabis advocate Caity Maple against Kendra Macias Reed, a city planning commissioner who runs a construction company.
 
[You can take a look at Maple and Macias Reed's Sac Follows the Money spreadsheets here.]
 
A resident of the Z'Berg Park neighborhood, Macias Reed has been drawn outside of District 5. She told the Bee she'll be moving back into the district soon, but rumors are emerging that she may ultimately not.
 
District 1
With Councilmember Angelique Ashby running for the California State Senate, this seat representing the northern suburbs is also wide open. According to the Sacramento Bee, the following folks are considering a run here:
 
"- Lisa Kaplan, Natomas Unified School Board member since 2002, and an attorney, is running for the seat, she said.
-  Alyssa Lozano, a realtor and president of the Natomas Chamber of Commerce, is seriously considering a run, said Andrew Acosta, a political consultant.
- Basim Elkarra, executive director of The Council on American-Islamic Relations and member of the Twin Rivers Unified School District Board, is considering a run, he said."
 
District 7
Currently running unopposed, Rick Jennings may have an easy ticket to another round on the dais.
 

Thanks for listening, defund the police and, as always:

Twitter: @youknowkempa, @ShanNDSTevens, @Flojaune, @guillotine4you

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/voicesrivercity  

Sacramentans can hear us on 103.1 KUTZ Tuesdays at 5 pm and again Wednesdays at 8 am.

If you require a transcript of our episodes, please reach out to [email protected] and we'll make it happen.

And thank you to Be Brave Bold Robot for the tunes.