Oakland special election: Barbara Lee now leads in Oakland mayoral race

Barbara Lee now leads Loren Taylor by nearly 5,000 votes after the latest count in the Oakland mayoral race, according to numbers released Friday by the Alameda County Registrar's Office. Previously, Taylor had been in the lead, but after Friday's update, Lee is now ahead with more than 52% of the vote.

The registrar's office said it has about 300 ballots to verify, and election workers will count any remaining mail-in ballots that have yet to be received. Any mail-in ballots can be tallied as late as Tuesday as long as they were postmarked by the day of the special election.

Oakland! This evening’s results are encouraging. I decided to run for Mayor knowing that Oakland is a deeply divided City–and I ran to unite our community. We worked hard every day to earn every vote! Thanks to you, in our 100 day campaign our Faith, Labor and Business… pic.twitter.com/OJqCnsygej

— Barbara Lee (@BarbaraLee_CA) April 19, 2025

The special election with ranked-choice voting became necessary after former mayor Sheng Thao lost a recall election in November. Whoever wins will serve out the remainder of her term and will be up for reelection next year.

University of San Francisco Politics Professor James Taylor said the drawn-out post-election process is once again putting Alameda County in the spotlight.

"It's exposed that Alameda [County] is once again notoriously slow in counting," Taylor noted, adding that he thinks this election will spur discussions about how to change that.

So far, neither of the leading candidates is conceding or declaring victory.

"But somehow, if Mr. Taylor pulls out a miracle, at this point, it would suggest he's finally overcome the obstacle of the ranked-choice voting," Taylor added.

"We are exceeding expected turnout for this special election because the people of Oakland care deeply about our future," Lee said in a statement Friday. "This is democracy at work, and I look forward to further election updates."

Lee, who served as the city's U.S. congressional representative from 1998 to 2025, and Taylor, a former city councilmember and founder of the well-connected political advocacy organization Empower Oakland, have long been considered the favorites in the race.

On Friday, Taylor posted a statement to social media as well.

"As we await the final results, we want to take a moment to offer our deepest thanks to our volunteers and supporters," Taylor said in the post.

"Thank you for standing with us, for showing up, and for reminding us what’s possible when we do this together. We appreciate you. And we’re just getting started," he continued.

Taylor previously ran for mayor against Thao in 2022 and narrowly lost the election to her by less than 700 votes after nine rounds of ranked-choice voting.

A third-generation Oaklander, Taylor has a master's degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Connecticut and a master of business administration degree from the University of California at Berkeley's Haas School of Business.

In addition to her career in Congress, Lee also served in the California State Assembly for 6 years and the state Senate for two. She earned an undergraduate degree from Mills College in Oakland and a master's degree in social work from UC Berkeley.

The other candidates on the ballot include President Donald Trump enthusiast Mindy Pechenuk and frequent entrant Peter Liu, former Olympian/comedian and barista Elizabeth Swaney, former Thao advisor Renia Webb, Bay Area Council vice president Suz Robinson, a woman named President Cristina Grappo -- who describes herself as a "provider" on her official ballot designation, paralegal Tyron Jordan, who said he suspended his campaign to support Lee, and union factory worker Eric Simpson.

To see the full election results, visit alamedacountyca.gov.

Bay City News contributed to this report.