Loren Taylor was leading in early returns in the special election to select Oakland's next mayor Tuesday night, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters' Office.
Oakland mayoral race
Loren Taylor was ahead of the nine other candidates on the ballot with nearly 49% of the vote in the first round of ranked-choice voting as of Tuesday night.
Former U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee was in second place with about 45% of the vote. All of the other candidates had less than 2% of the vote each.
The results are preliminary and the final vote tally will be announced after the Registrar of Voters Office completes several rounds of ranked-choice vote counting.
It could take several days for the final tally to come in and the next scheduled update isn't until Friday, according to the registrar's website.
The election was scheduled after former mayor Sheng Thao lost a recall election in November.
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.
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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 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 six 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.
District 2 seat
Charlene Wang was leading in early returns in the special election to select Oakland's next District 2 city councilmember Tuesday night, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters' Office.
Wang was ahead of the five other candidates on the ballot with about 52% of the vote in the first round of ranked-choice voting contest as of about 8:15 p.m.
Kara Murray-Badal was in second place with about 24% of the vote and Harold Lowe III had about 13%.
The results are preliminary and the final vote tally will be announced after the Registrar of Voters' Office completes several rounds of ranked-choice vote counting.
It could take several days for the final tally to come in and the next scheduled update isn't until Friday, according to the registrar's website.
The election was scheduled last year following the election of the former District 2 councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors last November.
The winner of Tuesday's election will represent an area that is roughly east of Lake Merritt and south of Piedmont.
The other candidates are property manager Paula Thomas, the Rev. Kenneth Anderson, restaurateur and local businessperson Kanitha Matoury, housing policy advocate Murray-Badal and financial planner Lowe III.
Wang is an East Bay native who grew up visiting her grandparents in West Oakland and who now lives in the Eastlake/San Antonio area.
She has worked for the U.S. EPA on civil rights and environmental justice issues. Wang lost a November 2024 election for the at-large City Council seat to current Councilmember Rowena Brown.
Murray-Badal, an Oakland native, is the director of the Housing Venture Lab, a housing policy and advocacy organization. She earned a bachelor's degree from Stanford University and graduate degrees from University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and Harvard Kennedy School.
Matoury is a first-generation Cambodian immigrant and long-time owner of the now-closed Spice Monkey restaurant and current owner of Howden Market. She also ran in and lost the at-large City Council election to Brown.
Another Oakland native, Thomas, says on her website that she created a hip hop radio station in Sacramento then bought an AM talk-format station after graduating from San Francisco State University with a undergraduate degree in communications.
She says she decided to run for the council seat after becoming concerned with crime and, if elected, will work to create afterschool programs for kids and on reducing gun violence.
Lowe, born in Oakland's Highland Hospital, lost to Fortunato Bas in the 2022 District 2 election. He earned an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a master's degree in public administration from California State University, East Bay.
Anderson is pastor of Williams Chapel Baptist Church in Oakland. He says he is running to improve housing stability, public safety and support for Oakland's churches and businesses, among other things.
Measure A
Oakland's Measure A, a half-cent sales tax proposal, was ahead in early returns Tuesday night with about 64% of voters approving it, according to information from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters' Office.
If approved, it would increase Oakland's sales tax from 10.25% to 10.75% to raise between $20 million and $30 million annually for the next 10 years.
It requires a majority of votes -- greater than 50%-- to pass.
The Oakland City Council voted 6-0 to place the measure on the ballot in December 2024, with then-councilmember Carroll Fife and Councilmember Janani Ramachandran excused.
The tax "will help stabilize our finances and prevent further erosion in city services, so without the added revenue Oakland will be forced to do deeper cuts that threaten critical community programs such as public safety, cultural arts, human services and undermining the city's quality of life and economic vitality," said Councilmember Kevin Jenkins at the time.
Jenkins, who sponsored the ordinance to place Measure A on the ballot, is now serving as interim mayor until the winner of Tuesday's mayoral election begins their term.
Measure A is intended to help tackle Oakland's ongoing budget shortfall, which is estimated at $280 million over the next two-year budget cycle.
To see the full election results, visit alamedacountyca.gov.
