"From sheng thao's recall to Kevin Jenkins' administration, as well as the april mayor election, here is everything you need to know" --APhrodite Avidon, Eighth Grade
Dissatisfaction with Oakland mayors is not a new issue. Ron Dellums, the longtime congressman who served as mayor from 2007 to 2011, was seen as an absent politician, often not showing up to city hall. His successor, Jean Quan, served a very controversial term as well, due to her handling of the Occupy Oakland protests, part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Quan would then lose reelection to Libby Schaff. Schaff was more popular than her predecessors, however still faced criticism due to allegations of campaign finance violations.
In the 2022 midterm elections, Oakland elected Sheng Thao, city councilor from the 4th district, to be mayor. Thao won by a slim margin against Councilman Loren Taylor, despite major endorsements from politicians such as Ro Khanna and Rob Bonta. Thao’s term started by firing police chief LeRonne Armstrong due to misconduct allegations. She was then unable to find a replacement chief for over a year. During Thao’s term, Oakland lost its final major sports team, the A’s, after losing the Golden State Warriors and the Oakland Raiders under Schaff. Thao also failed to sell the Oakland Coliseum where the A’s formerly played, leaving the city with a growing $360 million deficit.
Crime is another issue that plagued Oakland during Thao’s term and in 2024, Oakland’s crime went up over 118% for property crime while robberies went up 11%, despite violent crimes being down 21%. The crime led chains such as Starbucks, Denny’s, and In N’ Out Burger to close locations and businesses like Kaiser Permanente and Clorox to close Oakland office buildings.
On June 5th, a group known as Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao (OUST) successfully submitted over 40,000 signatures to get a recall election on the November ballot. Days after the recall, a mass shooting occurred at a Juneteenth celebration as well as an unrelated FBI raid on Thao’s home, sparked protests at Oakland City Hall. OUST’s efforts were successful, as Thao was recalled with 60.62% of the vote alongside Alameda County district attorney Pamela Price.
In January, Thao was indicted on six charges of bribery, wire fraud, and mail fraud and released on bail of $50,000. Patrick D. Robbins, the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, said Thao had agreed to extend a city contract with waste management company, California Waste Solutions (CWS), in exchange for a $75,000 donation to an attack mailer against her political opponents. The donation was just one of the things CWS promised to Thao in exchange for a total of $300,000, which included letting Andy and David Duong, the owners of CWS, purchase land at Oakland’s former army base, as well as allowing the Duongs to oversee people who Thao would hire for city positions.
Thao left office on Oakland’s inauguration day, December 23rd, and was succeeded by Nikki Fortunato Bas, the then-city council president. Bas would have served until the April special election was certified, but she was elected to Alameda County Supervisor for District 5 and only served to Alameda County inauguration day on January 6th, which left it up to the city council to choose a new president who would then become interim mayor, and the council elected Kevin Jenkins, Councilor for the 6th District. Jenkins pledged not to run in the April 15th special election, leading the race to have no incumbent.
Seventeen candidates qualified for the ballot before the January 17th deadline, however of those candidates, only 2 have major name recognition, former Rep. Barbara Lee and former Councilman Loren Taylor. Lee’s candidacy is currently the only candidate with major endorsements, from former Oakland mayors Elihu Harris, Jean Quan, Libby Schaff, Nikki Fortunato Bas, and Jerry Brown, who served as California Governor over four terms. She also has endorsements from Rep. Lateefah Simon in addition to Oakland assembly members Mia Bonta and Buffy Wicks, as well as current mayor Kevin Jenkins. Taylor, on the other hand, has not listed any endorsements on his campaign website.
Lee opposed both the recalls of Thao and Price, calling them “undemocratic,” while Taylor supported them. Neither of the recalled candidates have made endorsements. Lee has previously been elected 14 times with over 80% in California’s 12th congressional district which encompasses all of Oakland, and Taylor has only run for a citywide office once, losing by 0.6% to Thao, a more progressive choice.
“I think [Lee] has been on the right side of history so many times, starting with the Iraq war,” said Jordan Karnes, a teacher at Oakland School for the Arts, when asked why they supported Lee, as well as voicing support for an independent Palestine, which Lee supported. No polling has come out for the mayor race, however, Lee’s experience and popularity among progressive Democrats show a clear advantage.
In the 2022 midterm elections, Oakland elected Sheng Thao, city councilor from the 4th district, to be mayor. Thao won by a slim margin against Councilman Loren Taylor, despite major endorsements from politicians such as Ro Khanna and Rob Bonta. Thao’s term started by firing police chief LeRonne Armstrong due to misconduct allegations. She was then unable to find a replacement chief for over a year. During Thao’s term, Oakland lost its final major sports team, the A’s, after losing the Golden State Warriors and the Oakland Raiders under Schaff. Thao also failed to sell the Oakland Coliseum where the A’s formerly played, leaving the city with a growing $360 million deficit.
Crime is another issue that plagued Oakland during Thao’s term and in 2024, Oakland’s crime went up over 118% for property crime while robberies went up 11%, despite violent crimes being down 21%. The crime led chains such as Starbucks, Denny’s, and In N’ Out Burger to close locations and businesses like Kaiser Permanente and Clorox to close Oakland office buildings.
On June 5th, a group known as Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao (OUST) successfully submitted over 40,000 signatures to get a recall election on the November ballot. Days after the recall, a mass shooting occurred at a Juneteenth celebration as well as an unrelated FBI raid on Thao’s home, sparked protests at Oakland City Hall. OUST’s efforts were successful, as Thao was recalled with 60.62% of the vote alongside Alameda County district attorney Pamela Price.
In January, Thao was indicted on six charges of bribery, wire fraud, and mail fraud and released on bail of $50,000. Patrick D. Robbins, the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, said Thao had agreed to extend a city contract with waste management company, California Waste Solutions (CWS), in exchange for a $75,000 donation to an attack mailer against her political opponents. The donation was just one of the things CWS promised to Thao in exchange for a total of $300,000, which included letting Andy and David Duong, the owners of CWS, purchase land at Oakland’s former army base, as well as allowing the Duongs to oversee people who Thao would hire for city positions.
Thao left office on Oakland’s inauguration day, December 23rd, and was succeeded by Nikki Fortunato Bas, the then-city council president. Bas would have served until the April special election was certified, but she was elected to Alameda County Supervisor for District 5 and only served to Alameda County inauguration day on January 6th, which left it up to the city council to choose a new president who would then become interim mayor, and the council elected Kevin Jenkins, Councilor for the 6th District. Jenkins pledged not to run in the April 15th special election, leading the race to have no incumbent.
Seventeen candidates qualified for the ballot before the January 17th deadline, however of those candidates, only 2 have major name recognition, former Rep. Barbara Lee and former Councilman Loren Taylor. Lee’s candidacy is currently the only candidate with major endorsements, from former Oakland mayors Elihu Harris, Jean Quan, Libby Schaff, Nikki Fortunato Bas, and Jerry Brown, who served as California Governor over four terms. She also has endorsements from Rep. Lateefah Simon in addition to Oakland assembly members Mia Bonta and Buffy Wicks, as well as current mayor Kevin Jenkins. Taylor, on the other hand, has not listed any endorsements on his campaign website.
Lee opposed both the recalls of Thao and Price, calling them “undemocratic,” while Taylor supported them. Neither of the recalled candidates have made endorsements. Lee has previously been elected 14 times with over 80% in California’s 12th congressional district which encompasses all of Oakland, and Taylor has only run for a citywide office once, losing by 0.6% to Thao, a more progressive choice.
“I think [Lee] has been on the right side of history so many times, starting with the Iraq war,” said Jordan Karnes, a teacher at Oakland School for the Arts, when asked why they supported Lee, as well as voicing support for an independent Palestine, which Lee supported. No polling has come out for the mayor race, however, Lee’s experience and popularity among progressive Democrats show a clear advantage.
