![\"Sacramento](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SAC_0265_RCB_20241105_Cofer.JPG\" "\\"Sacramento")
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Sacramento mayoral candidate Flojaune Cofer thanks supporters during an Election Night party at Tipsy Putt in downtown Sacramento in November 2024. A new lawsuit filed in Sacramento County seeks to block election officials from placing the title \u201cdoctor\u201d under her name on the June 2 primary ballot for the 1st District Board of Supervisors race.<\/p>\n
Ren\u00e9e C. Byer<\/p>\n
rbyer@sacbee.com<\/p>\n
A new lawsuit seeks to block Sacramento County officials from placing the title \u201cdoctor\u201d under Flojaune Cofer\u2019s name on the June primary ballot.<\/p>\n
Richard Dwyer, a registered voter residing in the county\u2019s 1st Supervisorial District which Cofer is running to represent, filed the suit Monday in Sacramento Superior Court.<\/p>\n
Sacramento City Councilmember Eric Guerra, Cofer\u2019s only serious challenger for the seat, said through a campaign spokesperson that he does not know Dwyer.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe does not know this person and nobody from Eric\u2019s team knows who this person,\u201d said Matt Reilly, Guerra\u2019s campaign spokesperson.<\/p>\n
The suit seeks to block Cofer from using the title in her ballot designation, which appears under candidates\u2019 names. Cofer holds a Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of Michigan and works as a senior policy director for Public Health Advocates, a Davis-based nonprofit.<\/p>\n
Because the primary is set for June 2, the suit was fast-tracked, and a hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday before Judge Jennifer K. Rockwell, according to court records.<\/p>\n
Cofer, through a campaign spokesperson, declined to comment on the suit until after the hearing.<\/p>\n
During Cofer\u2019s 2024 campaign for Sacramento mayor, her ballot designation read \u201cpublic health professional,\u201d said Ken Casparis, a county spokesperson. For the 2026 election, however, Cofer submitted a different designation: \u201cdoctor, public health.\u201d<\/p>\n
The county currently plans to use that designation on ballots for the June 2 primary, Casparis said.<\/p>\n
The suit alleges the designation would violate state election code, which permits a candidate to select \u201cno more than three words designating either the current principal professions, vocations, or occupations of the candidate, or the principal professions, vocations, or occupations of the candidate during the calendar year immediately preceding the filing of nomination documents,\u201d the suit said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile Cofer may call herself \u2018Dr. Cofer\u2019 in her own campaign materials, it is wholly inappropriate for the State to perpetuate this mischaracterization through the publication of official ballot materials,\u201d said Dwyer\u2019s suit, filed by attorney Brian T. Hildreth. \u201cA ballot is a ballot, not a bumper sticker … \u2018Doctor\u2019 is not a profession, vocation, or occupation, it is a title derived from academic achievement. Allowing Cofer to use \u2018Doctor\u2019 essentially provides a free state-endorsed political advertisement for Cofer\u2019s campaign, rather than giving voters a clear and accurate statement of her actual principal profession, vocation, or occupation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guerra, who has served on the council since 2015, is set to have a ballot designation of \u201cCouncilmember\/Environmental Advisor\u201d for the June primary, Casparis said. In his failed 2022 primary campaign for state Assembly, his ballot designation was \u201cCouncilmember\/Legislative Director.\u201d<\/p>\n
Supervisor Phil Serna, who has represented the district since 2010, is not seeking reelection and has endorsed Guerra<\/a>. The district includes the central and northern portions of the city of Sacramento, as well as Tahoe Park.<\/p>\n