Stockton Councilmember Dan Wright has officially thrown his hat in the ring for mayor.
The longtime Stockton resident and education administrator filed paperwork last week to run for Stockton’s top job in the 2024 election.
Wright confirmed to Stocktonia Monday morning that he has filed paperwork to run for mayor next year and an announcement should be forthcoming soon. But the current District 2 councilor declined to comment further.
According to online city campaign finance records, Wright filed a candidate intention form with the city May 15 listing the office he was seeking as “Mayor of Stockton,” with the objective being to run for the nonpartisan office in the upcoming primary and general elections.
If he advances through the primary, Wright’s most likely opponent in the general election will be Mayor Kevin Lincoln.
Lincoln filed his intention to run for a second term back in 2021, according to a staffer working for the mayor’s campaign. The city’s online campaign finance records also indicate he has formed a committee for reelection.
However, Lincoln’s campaign did not provide further comment on his reelection bid, but a source close to the campaign told Stocktonia that reelection preparations have been underway for several months.
In an interview in February, Lincoln, a Stockton native and pastor, addressed the upcoming primary and general elections. “Between now and then, it’s to finish and build upon what we’ve been able to start, and the foundation we’ve been able to lay over the last two years here in office,” he said.
Lincoln and Wright are the only two candidates to have filed to run for mayor in 2024 this far.
Wright was first appointed to the Stockton City Council in January 2015 to complete the term vacated by his predecessor Kathy Miller after she won a seat on the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors. He was officially elected to the Council in 2016 and reelected in 2020 by a landslide in the California primary, receiving more than half the vote in his district.
Wright, who will term out as a council member at the end of 2024, also served as vice mayor under former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs during the last two years of his first term.
He moved to Stockton in 1993 and has served in varying leadership roles during career in the city’s educational systems, including assistant and interim superintendent for the Stockton Unified School District, as well as an instructor for the School Administration Masters Program at the Teachers College of San Joaquin.
Wright’s educational background includes a bachelor’s degree of science in elementary education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master of arts in educational leadership and administration from the California State University, Los Angeles. According to his Facebook page, he is currently working toward a law degree at Humphreys University.
In addition, he has also completed an administrative credential and some doctoral coursework at Stockton’s University of the Pacific.
YES! YES! YES!
He has my vote. He’s not only one of the most qualified and affective city council members this city has ever had — he has no connection with Motec Sanchez and 209 Times. That should be a criteria for every candidate running for office.
Dan Wright is the best candidate for mayor for the City of Stockton. Hands down.