Editing Heather Fargo (section)

==Career==
Fargo was first elected to the [[Sacramento City Council]] in 1989 to a five-year term as Sacramento was transitioning to even year citywide elections. Fargo represented District One which includes [[Downtown Sacramento|Downtown]] and [[Natomas]]. In the September primary, she came in second place to businesswoman Kate Karpilow but beat future City Councilman Ray Tretheway who came in third place and incumbent David Shore who came in fourth place. However, Fargo came back to beat Karpilow in November.

Upon Grantland Johnson's resignation from the [[Sacramento County Board of Supervisors]] in 1994, Fargo decided to run for the Board. In that election, she faced attorney and community activist [[Roger Dickinson]]. In a closely fought election, Dickinson narrowly beat Fargo. After that loss she was re-elected in 1994 and 1998. While serving on the city council, (prior to becoming Mayor full-time), she was employed as a manager of the California State Parks Volunteer Program.

=== 2000 mayoral campaign ===
{{see also|2004 Sacramento mayoral election}}

Upon the sudden death in November 1999 of Mayor [[Joe Serna, Jr.]], Land Park City Councilman Jimmie Yee became the acting mayor. Several candidates announced their intentions to run. Other than Fargo, three other council members were also seeking the mayorship. North Sacramento City Councilman Rob Kerth who represented an area immediately adjacent to Fargo's also decided to run. In addition, [[Sacramento City Council#Steve Cohn|Steve Cohn]], the city councilman for [[East Sacramento, Sacramento, California|East Sacramento]] ran along with [[Sacramento City Council#Robbie Waters|Robbie Waters]] who represents the Pocket and Greenhaven areas decided to run along with several lesser known candidates that included businessman and attorney Joe Genshlea and community activist Julie Padilla. Fargo, who won 22% of the vote in the primary and Kerth who won 20% of the vote made it into the November runoff, where Fargo was elected with just 53% of the vote. In winning, Fargo became the second elected mayor of Sacramento, and the first mayor from north of the American River
.<ref>David Goldfield, ''Encyclopedia of American Cities'', v.1. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2007, p. 881. 9780761928843</ref>

=== 2004 mayoral campaign ===
{{see also|2004 Sacramento mayoral election}}
Fargo did not face as stiff competition in her 2004 re-election. Her main opponent was Ross W. Relles, Jr., a businessman. Other candidates were Deputy Attorney General Mark Soble and Lorenzo Patino Law School President Leonard Padilla. Virtually unopposed against candidates far less funded, Fargo won solidly in the primary election, thus no runoff was necessary.

=== 2008 mayoral campaign ===
{{see also|2008 Sacramento mayoral election}}
The primary election for mayor took place on June 3, 2008. Fargo received 39% of the vote, while former [[NBA]] star and Sacramento native [[Kevin Johnson (basketball)|Kevin Johnson]] received 46% of the vote.<ref>{{cite news |author = Mary Lynne Vellinga |title = Johnson leads mayor's race |work = [[Sacramento Bee]] |date= 2008-06-04 |url = http://www.sacbee.com/734/story/987573.html |access-date = 2008-06-04 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080607021617/http://www.sacbee.com/734/story/987573.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2008-06-07}}</ref> Since neither received a majority of the votes, a run off election was scheduled for November 2008, where she was defeated by a margin of 58% to 42%.

During the primary election campaign, Fargo initially claimed that she had the support of all the city councilmembers. Yet, Councilman Robbie Waters, Steve Cohn, and Sandra Sheedy all ended up endorsing Johnson during the primary.<ref>{{cite web |title=Additional Endorsements for Kevin Johnson |url=http://www.smartvoter.org/2008/11/04/ca/sac/vote/johnson_k/endorse.html |website=www.smartvoter.org |access-date=20 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The hunger - Bites - Opinions - October 16, 2008 |url=https://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/hunger/content?oid=870903 |website=Sacramento News & Review |date = 14 October 2008|access-date=20 April 2020}}</ref> On September 4, 2008, only Councilman Kevin McCarty endorsed Heather Fargo.<ref>[http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1210240.html SacBee - McCarty endorsing Fargo for Sacramento mayor] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908034816/http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1210240.html |date=2008-09-08 }}</ref>