Former congressmember Barbara Lee declared victory Saturday in her race for Oakland mayor. Her main opponent, former Oakland city councilmember Loren Taylor, conceded that morning.
With results released Friday, April 18, Lee is now at 50.06% on the first round count, while Taylor’s share of the first-round vote stands at 44.99%.
After nine rounds of ranked choice voting, Lee’s share of the vote increases to 52.69% for a total of 48,855. Taylor lands in second with 47.31% and 43,860 total votes.
“This morning, Loren Taylor called me to concede the race," Lee stated. "While I believe strongly in respecting the democratic voting process and ballots will continue to be counted through Tuesday, the results are clear that the people of Oakland have elected me as your next Mayor. Thank you, Oakland!"
In his statement, Taylor said he called Lee to congratulate her.
"While the outcome was not what we worked for and hoped for, I am incredibly proud of the race we ran," Taylor stated. "Our campaign started as the underdog – most didn’t expect us to come this far or make it this close."
On election night Tuesday, Taylor had taken the lead with 51.17% of the vote after nine rounds of ranked choice voting, while Lee took second with 48.83%. The Alameda County Registrar of Voters had said there were roughly 42,000 unprocessed ballots left to count from the April 15 special election.
“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,” stated Lee after taking the top spot in the race.
In an email Friday afternoon prior to the vote update, Lee told her supporters, “This is what people-powered democracy looks like. And this isn’t over. There are still thousands of ballots left to count, and we’re doing everything possible to ensure every vote is counted.”
Earlier in the day Taylor had thanked his supporters in his own emailed note as they awaited the final results.
“Thank you for standing with us, for showing up, and for reminding us what’s possible when we do this together. We see you. We appreciate you. And we’re just getting started,” he wrote.
As for the District 2 seat on the Oakland City Council, lesbian civil rights and environmental justice expert Charlene Wang won it with an impressive showing just months after falling short in her bid for the council’s at-large seat last November. She is now at 59.43% of the vote after five rounds of instant runoff voting for a total of 6,997 votes.
Tuesday she had found herself in first place with 50.45% on the initial vote count. And after five rounds of instant runoff voting, she had a commanding 66.49% of the vote on election night, with the second-place finisher Kara Murray-Badal, the director of Terner Lab's Housing Venture Lab. Murray-Badal is now at 40.57% of the count for a total of 4,776 votes.
Also on the ballot was Measure A, an increase of Oakland’s sales tax from 10.25% to 10.75% to raise about $30 million for the cash-strapped city. It passed overwhelmingly with 64.95% based on the preliminary returns.
A third results update will come next Friday, April 25.
San Jose race
Down in San Jose, where 18 ballots were left to be processed as of Friday morning, gay San Jose Planning Commission chair Anthony Tordillos continues to cling to second place and a chance at winning his city’s District 3 council seat in a summer runoff race. His vote count stands at 2,005 in the April 8 special election to serve out a term that expires at the end of 2026.
In third with 2,000 votes is Matthew Quevedo, deputy chief of staff to San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who had sole endorsed him in the race. Because the vote difference between Tordillos and Quevedo is less than .25% there will be an automatic hand recount of the results.
Whoever takes the second spot in the June 24 runoff will face off against Gabriela "Gabby" Chavez-Lopez, a single mom who is executive director of South Bay nonprofit the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley. She took first place with 2,710 votes to date.
District 3 covers much of downtown San Jose and its Qmunity LGBTQ district. It has been represented since earlier this year by engineering firm owner Carl Salas.
He was selected as a caretaker of the seat by the council following the resignation last fall of gay former councilmember Omar Torres due to his arrest for allegedly molesting a cousin years prior. As the final day of voting was underway to decide who will serve out the remainder of his term, Torres that Tuesday was in a Santa Clara County courtroom pleading no contest to child sex crimes and is now awaiting his sentencing.
Elected in 2022, Torres was the first gay Latino and out person of color to serve on the San Jose City Council, and only its second out councilmember. The governing body had gone 16 years without a member from the LGBTQ community until Torres took his oath of office two years ago.
Since no candidate captured more than 50% of the vote, the election will be decided by the summer runoff. It is coinciding with this year’s Pride week celebrations in cities around the Bay Area and across the country.
Wang will be one of three out women on the Oakland City council and one of the few out female Asian elected leaders in the Bay Area. She was one of six candidates vying in the special April 15 election to serve out the remainder of the term through 2026 vacated by Nikki Fortunato Bas after her election last November to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.
Lesbian interim District 2 councilmember Rebecca Kaplan will be stepping down as soon as Wang is sworn into office. She opted last year not to seek reelection to the council’s at-large seat that she had held for close to two decades and then was tapped by the council as a caretaker of Bas’ seat.
Lee and Taylor ran to finish the term through 2026 of Sheng Thao, who was recalled by voters last November. In 2022, Taylor had lost to Thao by fewer than 700 votes.
Political observers had thought that Taylor would have a lead with the first returns. Lee, who served for decades in Congress representing the city, was believed to have a formidable advantage when she entered the race in January. But Taylor made it a contest in recent weeks. He outraised Lee in the final weeks of the campaign.
Lee had the backing of the Alameda Democratic Party and LGBTQ organizations, including the Bay Area Reporter, which endorsed her. A strong ally to the queer community, Lee ran on a campaign of increasing economic opportunity for Oaklanders.
“We took nothing for granted in this campaign – and fought hard for each vote,” Lee noted in her April 18 email to supporters. “I ran for mayor of Oakland because I believe in our city and its people and know I can bring us together and lead with courage, compassion, and a clear vision to move Oakland forward.”
There were 10 candidates running for mayor, but the race quickly became a two-person affair between Taylor and Lee. All of the other candidates finished at 1.53% or lower, according to the unofficial results.
Updated, 4/19/25: This article has been updated with Barbara Lee winning the Oakland mayor's race.
Never miss a story! Keep up to date on the latest news, arts, politics, entertainment, and nightlife.
Sign up for the Bay Area Reporter's free weekday email newsletter. You'll receive our newsletters and special offers from our community partners.
Support California's largest LGBTQ newsroom. Your one-time, monthly, or annual contribution advocates for LGBTQ communities. Amplify a trusted voice providing news, information, and cultural coverage to all members of our community, regardless of their ability to pay. Donate today!
