Jumping Into Sonora City Council Race Early
Sonora, CA – Sonora City Councilman Matt Hawkins has officially announced that he will run for re-election in 2024.
There will be three Sonora City Council seats on the ballot next year. They are currently held by Hawkins, Mark Plummer, and Ann Segerstrom.
The filing period to take out papers and start collecting signatures begins on September 13, and the election itself will be on March 5 of 2024.
Asked about his reasoning for announcing his re-election this early, Hawkins says, “I know this is early, but why procrastinate? My phone is always on, my email is always open, and I am always continuing to look for more wisdom from everyone. “I always love to bend somebody’s ear if they’ve got a different opinion than mine.”
Hawkins says he plans to focus the campaign on, “police, fire—it’s no secret that the Washington Fire endangered all of our homes and then our public works. We have decaying roads, and we are fighting to get those streets paved, but we’ve got over 30 miles and a $50,000 budget that the state gives us to be able to pave those roads.”
Hawkins will have served 12 years on the council after this term. He was first elected in 2008 at the age of 30 and then lost a re-election bid in 2012. He rejoined the council after being elected in 2016, and then won re-election in 2020. He was the Mayor from 2020–2022.
*News Director BJ Hansen contributed to reporting this story.