Alliances forming, partisan endorsements lining up in Elk Grove Unified School District Trustee races

This year, three of the four seats on the ballot for the seven-member Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Trustees will be competitive. Two races have three-term incumbents challenged; one is an open seat, while Area 3 Trustee Sean Yang is unopposed.  

While trustee positions are nonpartisan, local Democratic and Republican elected officials support some candidates, and four of the five candidates challenging two incumbents have party endorsements.    

Area 7 

Incumbent Trustee Carmine Forcina, who had been a Democratic party-endorsed candidate in earlier elections, is challenged by Heidi Moore and Rehana Rehman. Moore has lined up Republican support, Rehman is supported by the Democratic party, while Forcina has not announced significant endorsements on his social media page.

Among Moore's Republican supporters are the Republican Party of Sacramento County, California Assemblymember Joshua Hoover, Rancho Cordova Mayor David Sanders, and Tom Silva, a Republican candidate for Congress challenging Democratic incumbent Doris Matsui for California's seventh district. Although he is not listed as an endorsement, Elk Grove City Councilmember Kevin Spease donated $500 to Moore's campaign. 

Moore has also been endorsed by the Elk Grove Police Officers Association, Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522, and the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriff's Association.  

Rehman has been endorsed by the Democratic Party of Sacramento County and local Democratic elected officials, including Sacramento County Supervisor Patrick Kennedy, Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen, Elk Grove City Councilmember Sergio Robles, and Elk Grove Unified School District Trustees Michael Vargas and Gina Jamerson. 

Additionally, Rehman has earned the endorsement of the powerful Elk Grove Education Association, the collective bargaining unit for district teachers, Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 447, Norcal Carpenters Union, and AFSME Local 258.  

Area 6

In the race to fill the seat being vacated by two-term Trustee Nancy Chaires-Espinoza, there is one Democratic and Republican-endorsed candidate. Jennifer Ballerini has earned the endorsement of the Democratic Party of Sacramento County, while the Republican Party of Sacramento supports Jacqueline Ortiz.  

Ballerini supporters include Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen, Elk Grove City Councilmembers Sergio Robles and Darren Suen, EGUSD Trustees Chaires-Espoinzoa, Gina Jamerson, and Michael Vargas. Interestingly, Ballerini is endorsed by EGUSD Trustee Carmine Forcina, who Rehman is challenging. 

Among labor supporters, Ballerini is endorsed by the Elk Grove Education Association, the AFL-CIO Sacramento County Central Labor Council, and the Plumber and Pipefitters Local 447.

Former Elk Grove mayor Gary Davis, the Elk Grove Police Officers Association, and the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriff's Association have endorsed Ortiz. 

Area 1

Unlike the other district seat, there is less information about the race where Susan Davis is challenging three-term incumbent Tony Perez.

Davis has not listed any significant labor or political party endorsements and appears to have formed an alliance with Ballerini and Rehman. A post on Rehman's Instagram page promoted a postcard-writing event for her, Davis, and Ballerini.

Davis has submitted responses to questions posted by Ballotpedia.org. 

Perez has no social media presence or campaign website among the trustee candidates. Although the Democratic Party of Sacramento has previously endorsed him, he is not on this year's list of endorsed candidates.  

In 2020, Perez was challenged and, like this year, had no visible presence or campaign. Despite that, Perez was reelected with 58 percent of the vote on a district-wide basis. 

However, all EGUSD Trustees are now elected on a by-district basis.  

Alliances

While Moore and Ortiz are the two Republican party-backed candidates running for seats, social media does not appear to show any coordination of campaign efforts. Nonetheless, they have both earned significant Republican endorsements. 

Even though Davis is not endorsed by the Democratic party or any elected officials, she, Ballerini, and Rehman have appeared in social media posts. As noted, they also conducted a campaign postcard-writing event. 

Given Trustee Perez's tumultuous relations with fellow board members, Vargas and Jamerson, who likely don't want to run afoul of local Democratic Party rules forbidding endorsement of non-Democratic candidates, probably want to oust him. As evidenced by Davis' alliance with Rehman, Ballerina, and the postcard-writing party, they could be indirectly supporting her campaign.