On May 1 last year, Flojaune Cofer tweeted, “Solidarity to all workers this May Day! As the daughter of teachers and granddaughter of a coal miner and a postal worker, I’m thankful to all laborers whose work uplifts humanity, and to our unions for continuing the struggle for fair wages and safe working conditions.”

You would expect such an outspoken pro-worker mayoral candidate to be endorsed by the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — and you’d be right. But DSA is far from alone. Cofer’s campaign for Sacramento mayor has won the endorsement of the editorial board of the city’s paper the Sacramento Bee, two sitting Sacramento City Council members, and the city’s health care and education unions.

An epidemiologist by trade, Cofer is affectionately known in Sacramento progressive circles as Dr. Flo. Her extensive work in public health policy made broader systemic inequality impossible to ignore, and she’s spent years pushing for policy change as a grassroots activist, an official committee appointee, and much else in between. In addition to serving as senior policy director for Public Health Advocates, Cofer is a longtime host of the local politics and current events podcast Voices: River City.