Sacramento mayoral candidates kick campaigns into high gear on Labor Day
SACRAMENTO — Labor Day is a day to celebrate workers, but it is also a signal to local election campaigns to start their sprint to the finish line.
For Sacramento mayoral candidates Dr. Flo Cofer and Kevin McCarty, Labor Day meant locking in.
"So we're kicking it in high gear," McCarty said. "I've been out there knocking on doors and voters are like, 'What election? When's it happening?' "
"We're feeling really energized. We have been out in the community," Cofer said. "It is important. We are approaching the 60-day mark before the election. That's a big deal."
The two campaigns are re-emerging after the recent bitter end to Sacramento's Camp Resolution experiment. The city swept the homeless safeground last week.
"I thought the city handled Camp Resolution really poorly—not just in the end [but] from the outset," Cofer said.
"It was a mess. That was a flawed site," McCarty said.
Both say they support the idea of safeground sites in the city.
Retail theft is also top of mind in state politics.
With the statewide initiative Prop 36 to increase penalties for theft, some of the language was written by McCarty in the state Assembly, although he has not taken a position on it as a whole.
Cofer opposes the proposition.
Former Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo has yet to determine who she will support or endorse.
"I think the city will be served well by either of them, frankly, if they can get the rest of the council to work with them," Fargo said. "A of people I know feel like the city either isn't listening to them or isn't working well together."
McCarty has raised more than $500,000 this year in contributions. Cofer's campaign contributions are at $270,000 for the year.
Political strategist Doug Elmets says this is the time voters begin truly paying attention.
"It's crunch time," Elmets said. "Money matters because that's 'get out the vote,' it's phone calls, it's yard signs, it's direct mail."
Early voting starts October 8 in Sacramento. That is just five weeks away.