Progressive-Backed Cofer and Establishment Favorite Guerra Face off for Sacramento County Supervisor

For the first time in nearly 16 years, Sacramento County's District 1 will have a new Supervisor. Phil Serna, who has held the seat since he was first elected in 2010, is stepping down in January. Voters will decide his replacement this November.

Two Democrats advanced from the primary, although the race is technically nonpartisan. This November's result will test which strain of the Democratic Party has more electoral pull when voters can't fall back on partisanship to make the choice for them.

"Flo" Cofer (D)

Dr. Flojaune "Flo" Cofer, 43, is an epidemiologist with a PhD who grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is the daughter of public school teachers and the granddaughter of a coal miner and a postal worker. She moved to California 20 years ago and has worked for the California Department of Public Health and in advocacy.

In her 2024 mayoral campaign, she drew backing from the local Democratic Socialists of America chapter, and she remains the candidate most associated with Sacramento's progressive coalition. She has the phrase "more is possible" tattooed on her arm.

Her record includes chairing Sacramento's Measure U citizen oversight committee, which watches how the city spends its sales tax revenue.

Cofer has a bachelor's degree in Chemistry and Women's Studies from Spelman College, followed by a Master's in Public Health and a Doctorate in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan's School of Public Health.

Eric Guerra (D)

Sacramento Mayor Pro Tem Eric Guerra, 47, has represented Sacramento City Council District 6, which includes Campus Commons, Sierra Oaks, Tahoe Park, and the Little Saigon area, since 2015.

Guerra is a more moderate, establishment-backed Democrat supported by the building trades, local officeholders, and law enforcement.

He was a migrant farmworker beginning at age 5 and experienced homelessness. According to the Sacramento Bee, “His life story - being snuck across the Mexican border as a child, living in his car as he studied in college, and rising in Sacramento politics - is inspirational. After 11 years on the council, there is no doubting his knowledge of issues or his commitment to Sacramento.”

Guerra graduated from California State University, Sacramento, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and a Master of Public Policy and Administration.  Now married with two children, he said in a recent candidate forum that he drives a twenty-year-old Kia with 158,000 miles. "I know the challenges that families face today because I live it.”

He points to years of work across city and county jurisdictions and alongside the current Board of Supervisors, and notes that Republicans, Democrats, and independents who worked with him on constituent problems have endorsed him.

Guerra was the Governor’s appointee on the CSU Board of Trustees and the California Air Resources Board. He was president of the Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association, chair of the Sacramento County Planning Commission, and president of the Sacramento State Alumni Association.

About the District

Sacramento County's five supervisors collectively represent roughly 1.6 million residents, with each district covering more than 300,000 people. The board decides how the county spends its $9.2 billion budget and oversees agencies that touch nearly every part of local life, including the sheriff's and district attorney's offices and the county's health agencies.

District 1 covers about half of Sacramento. It stretches across Natomas, Del Paso Heights, Central Sacramento, East Sacramento, Oak Park, and parts of South Sacramento.

Democratic Socialists vs. the Democratic Establishment

The runoff this November sharpens a battle that has been simmering beneath the campaign's surface since the start. Cofer carries the support of the same progressive coalition that came within a percentage point of putting her in the mayor's office in 2024, and it is behind her again. Their organizing work for her was described in an article documenting "DSA Flomentum" in 2024:

“DSA Sacramento members joined a wide swath of communities from all types of backgrounds, from all over the city, and even from elsewhere in the country in supporting Flo. They canvassed, phone banked, text banked, threw house parties, threw fundraising events, held forums, and donated. The campaign saw nearly seventy thousand doors knocked, including over eight thousand two hundred the weekend before election day; one hundred fifty thousand calls, including twenty thousand the weekend before election day; three hundred thousand texts, and nearly one hundred house parties.”

If Cofer’s base turns out in Oak Park and Central Sacramento, the ascendant DSA could have another win, this time in Sacramento.

Roads and Jails

Cofer says the average road in Sacramento County is failing, and she wants to address the billion dollars in “deferred maintenance.”

Cofer does not support a new county jail.

Guerra called the current jail “deplorable" and unsafe for both inmates and staff. "Something must be done," Guerra said in a candidate forum last month.

Housing

On housing, Cofer has argued that keeping renters in their homes and preventing displacement matters as much as building new units.

Guerra says Sacramento County “needs to play a role in the economic development and revitalization of places like Northgate Boulevard, of places like Marysville Boulevard and Franklin Boulevard and help through different tools."

“As a county supervisor, my intent is to have the county be much more involved with the city…Many of the times, it's been this idea of being hands-off like, 'That's the city's problem.' No, housing is our regional problem," Guerra said.

Homelessness

Guerra says his top priority is “addressing the epidemic of severely mentally ill and drug addicted people on our streets. Recent data showed 79 people consumed $12.5 million of our fire department’s budget in the last five years. It’s time to act. I’ll do what others won’t: I’ll ignore extremists who demand the status quo. I’ll mandate treatment to save time, money and lives.”

Homelessness is also at the top of Cofer’s priority list, and she frames it as a public health problem. Cofer said in a primary forum that allowing safe ground camping is appropriate, “since society needs places for people to go.”

Both candidates now support SB 802, a bill by State Sen. Angelique Ashby, D-Sacramento, that Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed into law and could create a joint powers authority in the region to address homelessness.

Cofer said in a forum she thinks the County should take the lead: "I think it's the agency that has public health and the homelessness dollars and the responsibility for administering Medi-Cal and CalFresh and all of the state services that can be provided for homelessness," Cofer said.  "Right now so many people are expected to navigate separate systems for housing, for healthcare, for their identification, for their benefits," Cofer said. "And it's a really confusing process that takes time and know-how that many people, especially those who are in crisis, just don't have."

"I can appreciate both the city and the county," Guerra said. "We have an equal responsibility…A lot of the city personnel is doing the day-to-day touches at the city." “The responsibility should not be focused on just one entity," he continued. "People want to have somebody else deal with the problem, but it's all of our collective problems.”

Endorsements from Different Wings of the Democratic Party

Cofer's endorsements include the Sacramento County Democratic Party, the Working Families Party, the Sierra Club, the Los Rios Community College District teachers' union, and the California Democratic Renter's Council.

Guerra carries the endorsement of outgoing Supervisor Phil Serna, former state Senator Deborah Ortiz, U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui, the Sacramento Police Officers Association, and the Sacramento Stonewall Democrats. Guerra is also supported by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 340, Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 447, Sacramento-Sierra's Building and Construction Trades Council, UPE Local 39 and the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs' Association.

The Sacramento Central Labor Council has endorsed both Cofer and Guerra.

The Sacramento Bee editorial board endorsed Cofer, saying: “Guerra is a smart and steady public servant. Cofer is the clear change agent. She would challenge a county budget dominated by law enforcement…The fact that no current supervisor supports her is the greatest endorsement of all.”

Two Complaints Filed Against Cofer

After a legal complaint was filed against Cofer this Spring, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Jennifer K. Rockwell ordered Cofer to change her ballot title from “doctor” because she is not a medical doctor.

"I do think (the planned designation) is misleading," Judge Rockwell said in her ruling. "I don't think it was intentionally so ... If I just introduce someone as a doctor and don't say anything else, they think it's a medical doctor."

Cofer’s ballot designation was changed from doctor to "epidemiologist, public health" as a result of the court ruling.

The Fair Political Practices Commission is also investigating Cofer after a complaint argued that she failed to report income on her financial disclosure form for guest lectures at Sacramento State, expert witness testimony, and policy work for the California Department of Social Services.

Voters in this countywide general election cannot fall back on party label to sort these two candidates, so it will be a plain measure of which wing of the Democratic Party can actually deliver ballots.

Cofer's near-miss for mayor in 2024 showed DSA activists have real power in Sacramento. The open question is whether it will be enough against the establishment's organizing muscle in this lower-turnout supervisor race.

The two dominant factions of California's Democratic Party will be watching to see whose message lands with the voters who actually turn out.