The Abridged version:
- Sacramento County Supervisor Phil Serna will not seek a fifth term in office when his term ends next year.
- Serna endorsed Sacramento City Councilmember Eric Guerra to replace him, but other prominent candidates are expected to enter the race.
- Serna, the son of former Sacramento Mayor Joe Serna, Jr., said four terms on the board is “plenty for me and I’m proud of the things I’ve been able to accomplish.”
Sacramento County Supervisor Phil Serna will not seek a fifth term in office when his term ends next year, likely marking the end of a family political run that has spanned much of the past five decades.
In an exclusive interview with Abridged this week, Serna said “the time is right” for him to exit the Board of Supervisors and that he is endorsing veteran Sacramento City Councilmember Eric Guerra to replace him in the seat that represents Natomas, Sacramento’s central city, North Sacramento and neighborhoods on the city’s southeast side.
“I didn’t run initially to do anything else but serve,” Serna said. “And so now I’ve served for what will have been four terms and I think that’s plenty for me and I’m proud of the things I’ve been able to accomplish.”
Serna followed his late father into local politics
Serna’s father, Joe Serna Jr., was elected to the Sacramento City Council in 1981 and became the first Latino mayor in the city’s modern history in 1992. Known for his charismatic personality and deep ties to California’s farmworkers’ rights movement, the elder Serna served as mayor until 1999, when he died of kidney cancer at the age of 60.
The Serna name adorns notable buildings in Sacramento, including the main office of the Sacramento City Unified School District and the headquarters of the California Environmental Protection Agency downtown.
Phil Serna was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2010 and has served as its chair multiple times, including currently. He also has served on other countywide boards overseeing regional transit, flood control and air quality policies.
Over 15 years in office, Serna has rarely faced a serious election challenge. That lack of competition was a primary reason he entered politics in the first place, he said. When former Supervisor Roger Dickinson announced in 2009 that he was leaving the seat to run for the state Assembly, Serna and others expected strong competition for the post.
“Quite frankly, I was disappointed there didn’t seem to be a lot of interest at the time,” Serna said.
That may not be the case when Guerra runs for the seat in 2026.
Competition for seat could be robust
With Serna stepping away, the race for one of the region’s most important elected positions —one that helps oversee a $9.2 billion budget and the county’s public health policies — could draw fierce competition. Flojaune Cofer, who was narrowly defeated by Kevin McCarty for Sacramento mayor last year, could be a formidable candidate.
Guerra was first elected to the Sacramento City Council in 2015, representing Campus Commons, Tahoe Park and other neighborhoods along Stockton Boulevard and Fruitridge Road. He is a former county planning commissioner and his City Council district overlaps multiple Board of Supervisor districts, something he said has helped him “build a relationship and understand the county” on issues such as development on Stockton Boulevard, illegal dumping and homelessness.
“I never thought I would actually love the local work, but it’s because you get to work with your neighbors on issues that are affecting us daily,” said Guerra, a former state Capitol staff member. “I think that’s what has given me a lot of joy. It’s problem solving.”
Serna proud of his role in Black Child Legacy Commission
As he reflects on his time in office, Serna said he was most proud of his role in establishing the Black Child Legacy Campaign, a community effort that has contributed to a significant reduction in the deaths of Black children.
“It has had a lasting effect in a very, very positive way in our community, even to the extent that it’s actually being replicated in other places across the country,” Serna said.
Serna was asked what he would have done differently while operating under the microscope of elected office for the past 15 years. He spoke candidly about his temperament and how, he said, he gets “frustrated easily.”
“I think it’s difficult to sometimes hear continuously (that) someone believes they have a better mousetrap for any given set of problems, yet when you ask them to sacrifice or take the next step and maybe serve on a board or commission and do something other than hide behind the anonymity of a keyboard then they’re silent,” he said.
“So that frustrates me. And I think it’s important to be self-reflective, almost continuously as an elected person, as a forward, front-facing, public-facing figure. And I think I probably would’ve tried to manage my temperament a little bit better.”
“I think it’s time for me to do something different.”
Guerra’s ability to solve problems and “roll with the unexpected” equips him to take on a new role with the Board of Supervisors, Serna said. “That’s one of the reasons why I just think he’ll do such a fantastic job,” Serna said.
Serna hasn’t decided what he’ll do after leaving office, although a return to politics seems unlikely.
“You never say never, but I think for the foreseeable future, I think it’s time for me to do something different,” he said. “Believe it or not, despite my connection, my love for my late father … I never had designs on kind of following in his footsteps.”
WATCH: Phil Serna and Eric Guerra at the Abridged PBS KVIE newsroom.
Felicia Alvarez is a reporter at Abridged covering accountability. She’s called Sacramento home since 2015 and has reported on government, health care and breaking news topics for both local and national news outlets.