All of that Sandy Sheedy For Mayor talk has fizzled.
Sacramento's chief arena opponent has apparently opted not to run against Mayor Kevin Johnson, despite a lot of chatter at City Hall today that she would. The deadline for Sheedy to file her campaign papers has come and gone. For the record, she never returned my phone call today.
As a result, Johnson will run against five candidates with little or no political experience.
In terms of name recognition, that field is led by bounty hunter Leonard Padilla, who will be running for a fifth time. You can also count him in the anti-arena crowd.
"It's too bad," said the mayor's campaign spokesman, Steve Maviglio, "it would have been interesting to see who finished second between a bounty hunter and Sandy Sheedy."
Insurance broker Richard Jones is also running. He ran in 2008, but finished sixth in the primary with 576 votes.
Edgar Hilbert-Garcia, a tax preparer from Oak Park, also filed campaign papers. So did Andrew Lewis, an engineering student at American River College.
The field is rounded out by Jonathan Rewers, the chair of the city's Parks and Recreation Commission.
Two City Council fields were also announced today.
In District 6, Councilman Kevin McCarty is running for a third term in the seat covering Elmhurst, Tahoe Park and other neighborhoods on the city's southeast side. His lone opponent is Mitch Netto.
Jon Bagatelos, the mayor's campaign finance chair, said last month he was strongly considering running against McCarty. But he told me today he decided not to after talking with his family.
Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell is seeking re-election in Meadowview's District 8. Her only opponent is Betty Williams, the chair of the local NAACP branch.
Candidates have until next week to file for the other two seats in play because the incumbents in those districts - Rob Fong and Sheedy - are not seeking re-election.
So far, six candidates have lined up to replace Sheedy in her north Sacramento district. Eight candidates are interested in running for Fong's seat covering Land Park, midtown and downtown.
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