Angelique Ashby seeks outsider role in Sacramento mayoral race
Angelique Ashby said she was ready to take on a Goliath.
She’ll get her chance, even if it’s not the political heavyweight she had in mind.
A two-term Sacramento councilwoman from North Natomas, Ashby jumped into the race for mayor last month just a few hours after Mayor Kevin Johnson announced he wouldn’t seek a third term in 2016. In an email to supporters a few days later, Ashby said she was prepared to challenge Johnson in a head-to-head race and released an internal poll showing she could have won that contest.
“I knew we needed a new mayor with the energy, the experience and the ideals to keep Sacramento moving in a positive direction,” Ashby wrote. “But no one else stepped up. That’s when I decided to run for mayor.”
With Johnson now out of the way, Ashby instead will face a different opponent with broad political support, a seven-figure campaign war chest and name ID that stretches citywide.
Darrell Steinberg, the former state Senate leader who held elected office in Sacramento for more than 20 years, entered the race last week. He made his public announcement during a festive rally at a housing development under construction near downtown, surrounded by more than 200 supporters and members of the city’s political and business elite.
“Darrell brings people together from all of Sacramento – business, labor, environmentalists, advocates for the poor,” said state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, one of thoseAngelique Ashby seeks outsider role in Sacramento mayoral race | The Sacramento Bee:
