Sacramento City Council incumbents Guerra, Vang endorsed by local Democratic party

The Democratic Party of Sacramento has issued endorsements for two Sacramento City Councilmembers seeking another term on the nine-person body.

The endorsement of Councilmembers Eric Guerra, District 6, and Mai Vang, District 8, was announced on Twitter.com.

Guerra was first elected during the 2015 special election to fill the vacancy created by Kevin McCarty’s election to the California Assembly. He was unopposed in 2016 and won another term in 2020 against four opponents.

In 2022, Guerra was defeated in his bid for California Assembly District 10 by fellow Democrat Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen.

Vang, who served as former Elk Grove Mayor Steve Ly’s campaign manager during his 2014 campaign for the Elk Grove City Council, won her position in 2020. Vang replaced Larry Carr, who did not seek another term on the city council and, between 2016 and 2020, was an elected trustee of the Sacramento Unified School District.

Although both Democrats, Guerra and Vang, are in different places on the party spectrum. Vang is generally progressive, and Guerra is moderate.

Guerra’s moderate stances, especially compared to Vang and District 4 representative Katie Valenzuela, another progressive Democrat on the Sacramento City Council, are highlighted by his recent stance on encampments. The Sacramento Bee reports Guerra and fellow council member Rick Jennings have proposed a citywide daytime homeless camping ban.

While the next city council and new mayor will all likely continue to be Democratic, the intraparty schism on issues like homelessness will continue. Councilmembers like Vang, Valenzuela, and Caity Maples generally do not support measures like Guerra and Jennings proposed ban.

Guerra and Vang currently have no declared opponents for the March 2024 primary.