Sarah Chapman

Background

Sarah Chapman has lived in Vacaville for more than four decades; her 2026 ballot statement puts it at 46 years. She and her husband, a retired Air Force veteran, raised their children and a family of foster children, who went through Vacaville Unified schools. She completed a four-year machinist apprenticeship in shipbuilding and holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and accounting, a master's in public administration and a Ph.D. in public policy and administration. Her work has included federal service at Mare Island, serving as an ombudsman for Child Welfare Services, leading First Step of Upper Solano County, a shelter and counseling program for youth and families, and presiding over the Solano County Foster Parent Association. She served four and a half terms on the Vacaville Unified board of education and 10 years on the Solano Community College governing board.

In office

Chapman won the District 4 council seat on November 8, 2022, with 42.50 percent of the vote. In January 2025 the council made her vice mayor. Councilman Mike Silva suggested her, and the Daily Republic reported she was the first Black woman to hold the post.

That June, Mayor John Carli declined to issue a Pride Month proclamation, and the council voted 4-3 to let Chapman sign one she had drafted. Carli, Ted Fremouw and Roy Stockton voted no. Carli said the item needed a two-thirds majority, a reading the city attorney did not share, and Chapman signed it pending a legal analysis. During the debate she asked Carli, "Why are you doing this tonight?"

In January 2026 the council chose Silva to succeed her as vice mayor. Stockton, now her opponent for mayor, thanked her for her year in the post and noted she was the first African-American vice mayor in the city's history. On June 23, 2026, she voted with the five other members present to place Measure V on the November ballot. It would add a one-cent sales tax, raising the combined rate from 8.125 percent to 9.125 percent; the ballot arguments on both sides put the revenue at about $28 million a year.

On the ballot

Chapman is one of two candidates for mayor of Vacaville on November 3, 2026, an open seat because Mayor John Carli is running for county supervisor. Her ballot designation is Vacaville City Councilmember, and her opponent is Councilmember Roy Stockton. She lists affordable housing, homelessness, sustainable energy, financial sustainability and economic development as priorities. Her ballot statement names no endorsements, and we found none in reporting. Her District 4 term ends in December 2026; John Vogel and Davonna Finley are running for that seat.