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Longtime West Sacramento Mayor Facing Surprise Challenger On November Ballot

WEST SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Longtime West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon is facing a surprise challenger who even raised more money than him in the first filing period this year.

West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon is in the driver's seat of his election campaign,and his electric Tesla sports coupe.

It's a style that's different from Yolo County's agricultural identity, but it's working for the mayor.

"I learned a long time ago i want to be myself," Cabaldon said.

The mayor of 16 years says the eye-catching car has even helped land the city foreign business.

"I drove up in my electric car and they were like, 'This is amazing. This is what we thought America was all about,'" he said.

But Cabaldon did get a surprise when his challenger, Narinderpal Hundal, a man who never registered to vote in Yolo County until running for mayor, raised more money than Cabaldon in the first financing period of the year.

The mayor didn't raise a dime. Now he's fundraising again.

"I've learned sometimes the hard way that big special interest group can swoop in the last second,"

West Sacramento's unemployment sits above 10 percent. That number is far down from a high above 20 percent a couple of years ago, but it's still about the seven percent rate for the entire Sacramento region.

Hundal says he would bring more jobs to Sacramento.

He publishes a Punjabi newspaper and owns a security business.

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