For the first time in 16 years, Oakland voters will be electing a new citywide representative to the City Council. Lesbian longtime at-large councilmember Rebecca Kaplan has decided not to seek reelection, instead dual endorsing two candidates who are running for the seat.
On Monday, August 12, one of those candidates, Tonya Love, switched her candidacy to the now open District 7 seat on the Oakland City Council. Current Councilmember Treva Reid opted against seeking reelection.
Kaplan, first elected to the at-large seat in 2008, is one of the East Bay's longest-serving LGBTQ elected officials. Prior to serving on the Oakland council, Kaplan spent seven years as an elected member of the board that oversees the AC Transit District, which provides bus service in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
Her attempts over the years to seek higher office or a countywide position were all unsuccessful. She twice lost bids to be Oakland's mayor — in 2010 and 2014 — and came up short with her campaign for a seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in 2022.
In late 2018 she was rebuffed by the Bay Area's regional transportation agency, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, to be hired as its executive director when the position opened up. Over the years there has been constant talk of seeing Kaplan leave the council to run for other elected positions, from city attorney to a state legislative seat, but in those election cycles she ruled out doing so.
For months there had been speculation that this would be her last term as the at-large councilmember, as she had not announced a reelection campaign. Meanwhile, several candidates had filed papers to seek the seat in recent months.
When the Bay Area Reporter ran into Kaplan and her wife, Kirthi Nath, at an Oakland Soul women's soccer game on June 30, Pride Sunday, Kaplan didn't answer a question about if she planned to seek reelection.
"We're here to watch soccer," Nath said.
Kaplan and Nath are the parents of a young daughter.
In an email to supporters Friday, August 9, Kaplan made no mention of her term ending or her decision not to run again. Instead, she endorsed two candidates for the at-large seat — Rowena Brown, a queer Black woman who serves as district director for Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland), and Love, who works as chief of staff to District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife. (Fife is also up for reelection this year and faces many challengers, including Warren Logan, a gay Black man.)
The filing deadline is Friday but, because Kaplan is not running, it will be extended five days to Wednesday, August 14.
In an email, Love wrote that she's "deeply honored" to have Kaplan's endorsement. It is not clear whether Kaplan will continue to back Love in her new race for the D7 seat.
"Working closely with Rebecca over the years has not only been a privilege but a profound learning experience," she added.
"Her leadership and dedication to Oakland have set a high standard for what it means to serve our community," Love stated. "Our collaborative efforts, particularly in areas of community health and safety, have fostered a strong professional relationship based on mutual respect and shared goals.
"This endorsement comes from a place of genuine partnership and understanding. Rebecca knows firsthand my commitment to our city and my capability to lead from day one — there was no need for me to prove that I can do the job," Love stated.
Brown responded to a request for comment stating that she is also honored to have Kaplan's backing.
"As a proud queer Black woman, I look forward to being a crucial voice for our LGBTQ+ community and all Oaklanders on the City Council, while building on Councilmember Kaplan's dedication to delivering core city services for all Oakland families. We know that representation matters," Brown wrote in an email.
"I am proud to fight for our community everyday — from supporting state legislation that ensures youth have access to gender-affirming care, providing comprehensive civic education in school, and legislation that serves to reduce toxic air emissions in Oakland and across the state," she added. "All Oaklanders deserve a clean and safe community. I will work everyday to ensure a comprehensive community-based policing model that protects our LGBTQ+ community by building trust with residents and businesses and enhancing officers' cultural competency and sensitivity.
Brown stated that if elected, she would "invest in our LGBTQ+ young people to provide comprehensive support systems, build affordable housing, and continue leading efforts to secure Oakland's fair share of State resources to fight human trafficking — which disproportionately impact our LGBTQ+ youth."
LeRonne Armstrong, who had served as Oakland's police chief before being fired by Mayor Sheng Thao last year, is running for the at-large seat, as is Charlene Wang, who is queer. Lesbian Nancy Sidebotham, a perennial candidate, is also running, along with six other candidates, according to Oaklandside.
Kaplan, who did not respond to a request for comment, won all of her reelection bids to the City Council since her first race 16 years ago. Her colleagues elected her as council president in 2019, marking the first time an LGBTQ person had served in the leadership role. She was council president in 2020, when the COVID pandemic hit.
On the council, Kaplan has worked on transportation, housing, and homelessness issues.
Regarding LGBTQ issues, Kaplan worked to change the youth program funding distributions of the City of Oakland to include programs for LGBTQ youth, abolish old discriminatory laws that were still on the books when she was elected — including one making "cross dressing" an illegal act - and worked to get other LGBTQ people appointed to other leadership positions such as on boards and commissions.
"I worked with community partners to bring transgender awareness and trainings to the Oakland Police Department, and to respond to negative stereotyping that had taken place," she stated in a B.A.R. questionnaire during her supervisorial race.
Years ago, Kaplan organized the community sessions that led to the rebirth of the Oakland Pride festival. The event now includes a parade. She stated in the questionnaire that she also supported organizations like the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center. She advocated bringing the old Butch Voices conference to Oakland, where it was held for several years before disbanding last year.
When San Francisco and Oakland co-hosted the International AIDS Conference in July 2020, which was moved to online due to COVID, Kaplan brought a resolution to the City Council to hang panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt at City Hall, as the B.A.R. reported.
"As we remember and honor the victims of the AIDS epidemic, let us welcome and utilize the lessons of that experience," Kaplan, who participated in the socially distanced Oakland unveiling, told the B.A.R. at the time. "To successfully respond to the COVID pandemic we need to respect science, make sure prejudice doesn't undermine our response, and take steps to protect and value our entire community."
Kaplan's departure from the City Council in January will mark the end of an era as one of the longest-serving out elected officials in the Bay Area. Gay former Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthington served for 22 years in that city before opting not to seek reelection in 2018. He was Berkeley's first gay elected official.
Gay San Francisco Treasurer-Tax Collector José Cisneros has held his elected post since being appointed to fill a vacancy in 2004. This November, he will be unopposed for a sixth term, extending his time in the office through 2028 and giving him a historic 24-year tenure.
UPDATED 8/9/24 to reflect Cisneros was first appointed in 2004 and stood for election the next year, and is unopposed this year.
Updated, 8/12/24: This article has been updated with the inclusion of candidate Charlene Wang, who identifies as queer, and a comment from candidate Rowena Brown.
Updated, 8/14/24: This article has been updated to report that one of the candidates Kaplan endorsed for the at-large seat has switched to running for the open District 7 seat.
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