Santa Rosa council member Natalie Rogers joins race to replace state Sen. Mike McGuire

Santa Rosa City Council member Natalie Rogers has officially announced her bid for the state Senate seat being vacated by Mike McGuire at the end of 2026.

She joins at least one other local candidate in what’s expected to be a crowded race to represent the North Coast in District 2 which stretches from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border. She is running as a Democrat.

Rogers, 43, who was elected to her second term on the Santa Rosa council in November, said in a short Facebook post on Monday that she’s entered the race to advocate for working families who are facing rising housing, health care and other costs.

“I know these last few years have been hard on working families like mine. I am ready to fight for a reasonable cost of living in this state,” she said in the post.

Rogers, a marriage and family therapist, was first elected to represent parts of west and southwest Santa Rosa in District 7 in 2020, becoming the first Black woman to serve on the council and later as mayor.

She campaigned on a bid to increase diversity on the nearly all-white council and was part of a wave of council elections across Sonoma County that ushered in younger and more diverse representation.

She was selected in 2022 to serve as mayor in the two-year rotating post and she ran unopposed for a second term on the council in November.

In the first few months as mayor, the council faced immediate pressure from community members to address youth violence after a Montgomery High School student died following an on-campus stabbing. She helped spearhead discussions with Santa Rosa City Schools to bring back school resource officers and supported expanding other prevention programs on and off campus.

The city also negotiated new contracts with labor groups to address low pay and retention, negotiated with business groups over a revamped business tax and took initial steps to tighten city spending under her leadership.

Rogers grew up in Marin County and studied psychology at Sonoma State University where she became politically involved with various groups on campus, including the Black Student Union.

After living in Texas for three years, her family returned to the North Bay, settling in Santa Rosa.

She earned her master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from Argosy University in 2012 and today works as a licensed therapist for Kaiser Permanente and has her own private practice.

She touted her long ties to the area as well as her experience as a small-business owner, working mother and as a union member as giving her a deep understanding of the problems everyday residents in the district face.

She said she’s focused on increasing housing across the district, bringing down costs for child care and higher education and reducing red tape for small-business owners to get their businesses off the ground.

“When we make legislation, we need to see how it’s affecting working families right now,” she said in an interview Wednesday afternoon, adding that she wants to be a “voice” for them at the Capitol.

She also wants to make government more accessible and easier to navigate, she said.

Rogers first told The Press Democrat in mid-January she planned to enter the race.

She said on Wednesday that several community members approached her to run and, though it wasn’t something she had initially considered, she decided to seek higher office because she felt she could bring a different perspective and her life and professional experience to Sacramento.

She is lining up her team and preparing to travel the expansive district to meet with residents and community groups to get a better grasp of the diverse needs across the region as well as tell her own story as she seeks to set herself apart from the rest of the field, she said.

The 2nd Senate District takes in all of Del Norte, Trinity, Humboldt, Mendocino, Lake and Marin counties and most of Sonoma County. The district has a population of more than 947,600.

The district requires extensive travel to meet with stakeholders and understand the needs of both rural communities and the district’s larger, more wealthy urban centers.

McGuire, a Healdsburg Democrat who has represented the district since 2015, will be termed out in 2026.

The filing period top run in the June 2026 primary opens next February.

Already, Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore has announced his candidacy and Assemblymember Damon Connolly, who is in his second term representing Marin and Sonoma counties in the Legislature, is expected to announce his bid for the seat as soon as this week. Both are Democrats.

Among others known to be interested are Healdsburg City Council member Ariel Kelly and California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks, both of whom ran last year for the 2nd District Assembly seat that represents much of the same area. Neither had filed statements of intention to run with the California Secretary of State as of Wednesday.

You can reach Staff Writer Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or paulina.pineda@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @paulinapineda22.