Loren Taylor conceded defeat earlier today, saying he hopes Lee “fulfills her commitment to unify Oakland.”
by Ashley McBride and Darwin BondGraham April 19, 2025 (Oaklandside.org)
Barbara Lee appears to have topped Loren Taylor and nine other candidates to become Oakland’s next mayor, according to results published Friday April 18. Lee will be the first Black woman to serve as mayor of the city.
The Alameda County registrar of voters office released a big new batch of results on Friday, three days after the deadline for voters to turn in ballots. There are still some ballots left to count and the final results could shift, but most observers believe Lee has decisively won.
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Lee is receiving just over 50% of first-round votes to Taylor’s 45%. After ranked choice is run, Lee has about 53% of votes to Taylor’s 47%.
Lee said in a statement that while there are still some ballots to be counted and she believes in respecting the democratic voting process, “the results are clear that the people of Oakland have elected me as your next Mayor. Thank you, Oakland!”
“I accept your choice with a deep sense of responsibility, humility, and love,” said Lee. “Oakland is a deeply divided City; I answered the call to run to unite our community, so that I can represent every voter, and we can all work together as One Oakland to solve our most pressing problems.”
Taylor also issued a statement today saying he had called Lee to congratulate her on becoming the next mayor of Oakland. In his statement, Taylor criticized some of his opponents during the campaign.
“We gained the support of nearly half the voting population despite having political insiders and labor unions spend heavily, spread lies, and rally against our efforts, and your hopes for the city,” Taylor said. “Thanks to the heart, grit, and vision of our fearless team and supporters, we built a movement that resonated across Oakland, echoing the national dialogue about the waning relevance of a Democratic Party that puts old-guard politics over improving the lives of everyday people.”
In a race that attracted 10 candidates, Lee and Taylor had big leads in racking up endorsements, fundraising, and media attention. The City Council has 30 days to certify the results before Lee can officially be sworn in.
For Lee, 78, becoming mayor is the next stage in a political career spanning decades as a legislator in California and in Congress representing the East Bay.
Lee takes the helm of Oakland for a short term with a tall list of problems to tackle. Lee’s term will last through the end of 2026.
The city is facing a $140 million deficit over the next two years, City Hall is reeling from Thao’s indictment and allegations of corrupt dealings, and crime and public safety top residents’ list of concerns. At the same time, Oakland could be the target of the Trump administration’s ire as a progressive city protective of its immigrant and LGBTQ communities.
This election season essentially began in November, after Sheng Thao became the first Oakland mayor to be recalled. She, along with her partner Andre Jones and recycling company owners David and Andy Duong face federal corruption charges. Rumors of Lee’s interest in the role began swirling immediately, before she had ended her last Congressional term. In December, a number of union leaders, business owners, and public officials signed an open letter urging her to run. She jumped into the race in January.
It was Taylor’s second run for mayor and his second loss. The third-generation Oaklander represented District 6 on the City Council from 2018 to 2022 before making his first run for mayor. While he received more first-place votes in 2022, he narrowly lost to Thao once ranked-choice votes were tabulated.
Lee and Taylor aligned on several issues, but diverged on their approaches to increasing the number of police officers, how exactly to address the city’s structural deficit and reduce reliance on police overtime, and bring in more revenues.
The city’s labor unions and progressive activist groups lined up behind Lee while Taylor gained more financial support from the real estate and tech industries, and those who supported Thao’s recall. By Election Day, Taylor had outraised Lee with more than $500,000 to Lee’s approximately $440,000.
“I pray that Mayor-Elect Lee fulfills her commitment to unify Oakland by authentically engaging the 47% of Oaklanders who voted for me and who want pragmatic results-driven leadership,” Taylor said today.
Throughout the campaign, Lee emphasized that her decades as a public servant meant she could bring everyone to the table to address Oakland’s challenges. She called for a “stronger and united” Oakland.
Her critics questioned whether 27 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, and years prior to that in the California state legislature, gave her the experience and knowledge necessary to lead Oakland through crises and restore residents’ faith in their city government.
Some supporters of Taylor tried to link Lee to Thao — associations that further inflamed the race when Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins fired the rest of Thao’s staff after the city made public records revealing that Thao’s former chief of staff jotted down notes referring to Black people as tokens. Lee’s opponents also questioned whether her support from the city’s unions would make actions like layoffs a nonstarter to balance the budget.
Closing the budget deficit will also require creativity and potentially difficult cuts to city services. While Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins is expected to present his budget to the City Council within the next month, Lee will likely be the one shepherding it through.
Reforms to the city’s charter could also gain momentum during Lee’s tenure. She supports a review of the city charter, which limits the mayor’s power in council and budget decisions.
“Lines of accountability to the public are not clear, and this needs to change,” she wrote in her platform on governance.
Lee will be 80 when her term ends. She hasn’t said whether she would run again for a full term in 2026.
Correction: the original version of this story incorrectly stated that the city’s budget deficit-reduction strategy relies on sale of the Coliseum. On April 14, one day before the election, the City Council postponed sale of the Coliseum by a year, entirely detaching it from the budget process.
ASHLEY MCBRIDE
Ashley McBride writes about education equity for The Oaklandside. Her work covers Oakland’s public district and charter schools. Before joining The Oaklandside in 2020, Ashley was a reporter for the San Antonio Express-News and the San Francisco Chronicle as a Hearst Journalism Fellow. In 2024, Ashley received the California School Board Association’s Golden Quill Award, which recognizes fair, accurate, and insightful reporting on public schools. Ashley earned her master’s degree in journalism from Syracuse University and holds a certificate in education finance from Georgetown University.More by Ashley McBride
DARWIN BONDGRAHAM
Before joining The Oaklandside as News Editor, Darwin BondGraham was a freelance investigative reporter covering police and prosecutorial misconduct. He has reported on gun violence for The Guardian and was a staff writer for the East Bay Express. He holds a doctorate in sociology from UC Santa Barbara and was the co-recipient of the George Polk Award for local reporting in 2017. He is also the co-author of The Riders Come Out at Night, a book examining the Oakland Police Department’s history of corruption and reform.More by Darwin BondGraham
