The final Sacramento City Council election results did not yield any last-minute statistical miracles. Furthermore, a Sacramento city clerk’s predictions about City Council runoffs proved true: The leading two candidates in Districts 5 and 7 will compete in a Nov. 2 runoff election. The county elections office finished counting ballots from the June 8 election on Wednesday. Candidates Jay Schenirer and Patrick Kennedy will run for the District 5 seat, while candidates Darrell Fong and Ryan Chin will square off in District 7. Incumbent District 1 City Councilman Ray Tretheway lost his battle against challenger Angelique Ashby — just barely. A City Council candidate needs at least 50 per

Thirty-three votes divide the two local politicians fighting for a state Assembly seat in the Democratic primary. Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson currently has a tiny lead of 33 votes over City Councilman Kevin McCarty in the race for the District 9 Assembly seat. Dickinson has 35.05 percent of the vote, while McCarty has 34.93 percent. With all precincts reporting, McCarty had 9,634 votes to Dickinson’s 9,667. Jill LaVine, Sacramento County’s top election official, estimated that more than 86,000 remaining ballots still need to be counted. That total is comprised of unprocessed ballots that came to the elections office before Tuesday night, vote-by-mail ballots delivered t

Special interest groups for and against Sacramento City Council candidate Angelique Ashby have spent large sums on mailers blasting or lauding her campaign. While business interests poured about $36,000 into campaign mailers backing Ashby, a major local union paid $23,577 on mailers attacking her.  The Sacramento Building Trades Council Political Action Committee spent $23,577 on anti-Ashby mailers, according to statements filed with the California Secretary of State’s Office and the Sacramento city clerk’s office.    Mailers from the committee depicted Mayor Kevin Johnson as a king with a crown and Ashby as a puppet. In response to questions about the attack mailers, Matt Kelly, an of

A flood of money from interest groups is being used to support City Council candidate Angelique Ashby. A committee that is separate from Ashby’s campaign contributed about $36,000 for mailers that advocate for her candidacy, according to election statements. That amount legally surpasses the contribution totals that citizens and most groups can make to candidate’s campaigns, according to Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno. The sum comes from a group with a lengthy name: Independent Expenditure Committee for Jobs and Prosperity / Sponsored by Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee. Ashby is running for the District 1 City Council seat against incumbent

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson has gone from endorsing City Council candidates to asking the public to help fund their campaigns. In his May 18 blog, Johnson endorsed Angelique Ashby, Robbie Waters, Jay Schenirer and Steve Cohn. Now, he's asking the public to contribute to Ashby and Waters’ campaigns. The mayor said in his May 25 blog entry that “the opportunity to support reform candidate Angelique Ashby must not be missed.” Ashby is in a tense competition with incumbent Ray Tretheway. Efren Guttierrez also is running for the District 1 City Council seat. Tretheway did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Thursday. Johnson reached out to people outside of Ashby’s Nato

Darrell Fong, a retired Sacramento Police Department captain who is running for City Council, said he could provide a better perspective to the city and his district because he does not intend to make politics his career. The Sacramento Press is interviewing City Council candidates in advance of the June 8 election. Fong, a third-generation Sacramento resident, is running for the District 7 seat on the City Council. His opponents are incumbent Robbie Waters, and Ryan Chin and Diedre Hobart. “My goal is just to focus on the city alone and the district,” Fong said. District 7 neighborhoods include Greenhaven, Pocket and Valley Hi. Fong, 53, noted that he has lived in the Pocket neighborh

The Sacramento Press is reviewing campaign contributions for the candidates in June's City Council race. Here is a breakdown of the main contributions to the candidates in Districts 5 and 7 from July to December 2009. Read our guide to campaign contributions for Districts 1 and 3 here.  The June 8 election covers four City Council seats for Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7. The July to December figures provide the most recent information on campaign contributions for City Council candidates. The next deadline for candidates to submit statements listing their contributions is March 17, according to Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno. Those statements will list contributions from Jan. 1 to March