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Sacramento Mayor Race To Heat Up Soon

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – The countdown is on for candidates to declare who's running for Sacramento mayor.

Now that Kevin Johnson is leaving city hall, this could be the week we find out officially who wants to replace him.

Darrel Steinberg – the former leader of the state senate – already holds more than a million dollars in cash on hand from statewide campaign contributions. He is expected to formally enter this local race with supporters who've started printing campaign signs.

Steinberg recently spoke about his friend and political ally Kevin Johnson's decision to step down amid resurfacing sex allegations.

"I don't know. I don't know about the accusations," Steinberg said. "You asked me about the record he has made as mayor of Sacramento and I think he's done a good job."

If Steinberg runs, it will be against Angelique Ashby – who started her campaign the day Johnson announced he would not seek re-election.

"What do we want next? I'm proud to be a leader on the current council," Ashby said. "I'm not the same as Mayor Johnson. We are very different individuals, for one thing I'm a woman."

Former assembymember Roger Dickinson also said now that Johnson is out, he may also join the race.

"It's certainly something I'm interested in, taking a serious look at," Dickinson said.

Candidates won't be able to begin formally filing their campaign papers to run for mayor until February.

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