Nov. 13, 2024, 2:01 p.m. Updated\u00a0Dec. 20, 2024, 12:43 p.m. (Oaklandside.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nonprofit news can transform communities and strengthen democracy.<\/strong> The Oaklandside is committed to telling stories about what\u2019s beautiful in Oakland as well as the city\u2019s systemic problems, their root causes and possible solutions. Will you donate to our year-end fundraising campaign<\/strong> to support our reporting?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, I want to support The Oaklandside!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Voters overwhelming recalled Sheng Thao in the Nov. 5 election, setting the stage for a special election in April 2025 to pick a new mayor who will serve out the remainder of Thao\u2019s term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Local politicos wasted no time floating names of potential successors or declaring intentions to run for the office themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, over a month since the recall election, 11 people have pulled papers expressing an intent to run. And there\u2019s speculation that other well-known leaders are considering entering the fray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a living list. We will update it over the coming days and weeks, as plans evolve and firm up for the next era of Oakland politics. Know of a candidate or possible contender we missed? Email us<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wendy Adams<\/strong>: Adams pulled papers to run, according to the City Clerk. Information about her wasn\u2019t immediately available. We\u2019ll update this post when we learn more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tyron Jordan<\/strong>: A military veteran, Jordan ran for Mayor in 2022 and City Council District 3<\/a> in 2024. A legal practice assistant at Morgan Lewis and Bockius, Jordan has served on Oakland\u2019s Library Advisory Commission. Jordan outlined many of his ideas for the city<\/a> in 2022 when we interviewed him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peter Liu<\/strong>: Liu crashed out of the 2022 mayor\u2019s race after repeatedly spamming antisemitic statements<\/a> over email to members of the press and other candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Never miss a story.<\/strong> Sign up for The Oaklandside\u2019s free daily newsletter.<\/strong>Email<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mindy Pechenuk<\/strong>: An economist, classical music scholar, and follower of the deceased conspiracy theorist and perennial presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche, Pechenuk announced her candidacy on Nov. 11 on Facebook<\/a>, writing that she will \u201cend the insane ordinances and oversight commissions that are making it impossible for our police to do their job,\u201d and \u201cgo after the drug cartels.\u201d Pechenuk said she welcomes \u201cPresident-elect Donald J. Trump\u2019s offer to help our cities. Oakland can not do it alone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fabian Robinson<\/strong>: A pastor, Robinson sought the at-large City Council seat in the November election, finishing in eighth place among the 10 candidates with 2% of the vote. In an Instagram<\/a> post announcing his candidacy, Robinson wrote that he plans to \u201cbring a casino to Oakland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Andrea Smith<\/strong>: Smith pulled papers to run, according to the City Clerk. Information about her wasn\u2019t immediately available. We\u2019ll update this post when we learn more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Derrick Soo<\/strong>: Another 2022 mayoral candidate, Soo, is throwing his name in the ring again, he told The Oaklandside on Wednesday. Soo, who grew up in Oakland, was unhoused when he last ran. He\u2019s since secured housing. He said he plans to officially file in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elizabeth Swaney<\/strong>: Swaney is famous for her halfpipe skiing performance<\/a> at the 2018 Winter Olympics. According to her Wikipedia page<\/a>, she briefly ran for Governor while a student at UC Berkeley, and she\u2019s also done stand up comedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Loren Taylor<\/strong>: <\/strong>The former city councilmember officially filed<\/a> to run for mayor on Tuesday, exactly one week after the election. But Taylor first expressed his intentions to run months ago. He was the runner up to Thao in the 2022 election by a slim margin and was a vocal supporter of recalling his former opponent. In 2023, he founded Empower Oakland, an advocacy group that\u2019s gotten involved in local politics by backing candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Renia Webb<\/strong>: <\/strong>A former staffer in Thao\u2019s District 4 City Council office, Webb officially announce her candidacy for mayor on Dec. 10 with an event at OMCA. Webb became a vocal critic of Thao in 2023 and claims she served as a witness<\/a> in the FBI\u2019s investigation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Larry Lionel Young, Jr.<\/strong>: A real estate agenty with Century 21, Young ran<\/a> in the 2010 mayoral election, coming in eigth place among the 10 candidates. In 2012, he unsuccessfully ran<\/a> for City Council District 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ignacio De La Fuente<\/strong>: \u201cIf Barbara Lee runs, I\u2019m out. If Baraba Lee doesn\u2019t run, absolutely I\u2019m in,\u201d De La Fuente told The Oaklandside. The former trade union leader who served on the City Council representing District 5 from 1992 to 2011 unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2022. He criticized Thao and said the city is in bad shape and that he\u2019s in a unique position to fix it. \u201cI always believed i could have been the best mayor of this city. It takes a political backbone to make the decisions that need to be made.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Carroll Fife<\/strong>: <\/strong>The city councilmember, who was reelected to her District 3 seat this year, told us in November that she\u2019s prepared to run for mayor, depending on the ultimate \u201clineup\u201d of candidates. \u201cI want to make sure Oakland stays on the right track and has some kind of continuity for the successes and wins\u201d of progressives, Fife said. But she quipped that anyone interested in the tough job has to be either \u201ca sociopath or a glutton for punishment or a saint.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Richard Fuentes: <\/strong>Fuentes is co-owner of LGBTQ bar Fluid 510, which hosted the Alameda County Democratic Party election watch party. Fuentes\u2019 name was included in a survey reportedly sent by lobbyists McConnell Group, according to a Twitter user<\/a> who received it, polling respondents about who they might support for mayor. Fuentes told us he\u2019s \u201cexploring\u201d a run, but doesn\u2019t want to jeopardize his business, which has received boycott threats<\/a> over the owner\u2019s support of Thao.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kevin Jenkins<\/strong>: <\/strong>\u201cNo plans. Right now\u201d is all the District 6 councilmember had to say about the upcoming race in a brief text message in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Barbara Lee<\/strong>: <\/strong>Political insiders believe Lee, fresh off a 26-year stint in the U.S. House of Representatives, may run for Oakland mayor, though she hasn\u2019t publicly stated intentions to do so, and has refused to say anything<\/a> when asked directly by the press. There is precedent for a federal politician moving into the mayor\u2019s office; Lee\u2019s Congressional predecessor Ron Dellums later led Oakland. And on Dec. 19, a group of supporters issued a public letter<\/a> urging her to run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marshawn Lynch<\/strong>: <\/strong>During a podcast<\/a> with Gov. Gavin Newsom a few months ago, former Cal and NFL football star Lynch \u2014 who has zero experience in government \u2014 didn\u2019t do much to dispel the notion that he might run for mayor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nate Miley<\/strong>: The Alameda County District 4 supervisor\u2019s name has been floated here and there. When we asked Miley in November, he said he\u2019s \u201csurprised\u201d to hear that. \u201cI will neither confirm nor deny,\u201d he said about the possibility of a run. \u201cAs an Oakland resident I am looking to support someone who is tough enough, knowledgeable, seasoned, and prepared to right this ship of state and restore a universal sense of pride in this City!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Allyssa Victory<\/strong>: <\/strong>ACLU attorney Victory told The Oaklandside in November that she\u2019s weighing a run for mayor. \u201cI am speaking with my consultants, supporters, and my family to consider whether I will run or not,\u201d she wrote in an email. Victory made headlines in 2022 when a city clerk error<\/a> initially disqualified her from the mayoral ballot that year. She was ultimately able to run<\/a> but lost. Victory\u2019s name was also included in the McConnell Group survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nikki Fortunato Bas: \u201c<\/strong>I am not planning to run for mayor,\u201d the City Council president told The Oaklandside. \u201cI am really focused on what\u2019s in front of me right now.\u201d Bas is interim mayor until she takes her seat on the county supervisors representing District 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan Kalb<\/strong>: \u201cI\u2019m not planning to run for mayor \u2014 and I have no intention to create any plans,\u201d the District 1 councilmember told us. Kalb said many people have asked him whether he will, and some have encouraged him to do so, but he declined to comment on why he\u2019s staying out of the race. Kalb ran unsuccessfully in the District 7 State Senate primary in March and is leaving his council seat after three terms, handing it over to Zac Unger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Janani Ramachandran<\/strong>: <\/strong>The District 4 councilmember said she\u2019s not interested in running for mayor in the special election. \u201cMy priority is focusing on our budget and legislative duties as a council to navigate through these tough financial times for the city,\u201d she told The Oaklandside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Isaac Kos-Read<\/strong>: A longtime lobbyist who has represented<\/a> companies doing business with the city including billboard firms, hotels and affordable housing developers, Kos-Read has served on Oakland\u2019s Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission and is an avid salsa dancer<\/a>. Kos-Read confirmed to The Oaklandside in November that he planned to run but then signed onto an open letter asking Barbara Lee to run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seneca Scott<\/strong>: <\/strong>Scott is another name included on the McConnell Group survey. The activist and agitator ran for mayor in 2022 as well. He was a leader of the Thao recall campaign, announcing on X<\/a> on election night, \u201cI just recalled the mayor.\u201d However, he said on X<\/a> a few days later, \u201cI\u2019m not running for mayor. Please stop asking!!!!!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Correction: Renia Webb did not work in Thao\u2019s mayoral administration. She was a staffer in Thao\u2019s City Council office in 2022.<\/em>\u00a0We also incorrectly identified Nate Miley\u2019s supervisorial district. He is the District 4 supervisor.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n natalie@oaklandside.org<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Natalie Orenstein covers housing and homelessness for The Oaklandside. She was previously on staff at Berkeleyside, where her extensive reporting on the legacy of school desegregation received recognition from the Society of Professional Journalists NorCal and the Education Writers Association. Natalie\u2019s reporting has also appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle and other Bay Area publications, and she\u2019s written about public policy for a number of research institutes and think tanks. Natalie lives in Oakland, grew up in Berkeley, and has only left her beloved East Bay once, to attend Pomona College.More by Natalie Orenstein<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n eli@oaklandside.org<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Eli Wolfe reports on City Hall for The Oaklandside. He was previously a senior reporter for San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight, where he had a beat covering Santa Clara County\u2019s government and transportation. He also worked as an investigative reporter for the Pasadena-based newsroom FairWarning, where he covered labor, consumer protection and transportation issues. He started his journalism career as a freelancer based out of Berkeley. Eli\u2019s stories have appeared in The Atlantic, NBCNews.com, Salon, the San Francisco Chronicle, and elsewhere. Eli graduated from UC Santa Cruz and grew up in San Francisco.More by Eli Wolfe<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n darwin@oaklandside.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Politicos are eyeing the soon-to-be vacant office and rumors are swirling. One person has already set up a committee to run. by\u00a0Natalie Orenstein,\u00a0Eli Wolfe,\u00a0Darwin BondGraham\u00a0and\u00a0Oaklandside staff Nov. 13, 2024, 2:01 p.m. Updated\u00a0Dec. 20, 2024, 12:43 p.m. (Oaklandside.org) Nonprofit news can transform communities and strengthen democracy. The Oaklandside is committed to telling stories… Continue reading ![\"A](\"https:\/\/oaklandside.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/large-Mayor-Schaaf-Universal-Preschool-Access_20221221_0950-1200x800.jpg\")
Who\u2019s definitely running for mayor?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Who might run for mayor?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Who\u2019s not running for mayor?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
NATALIE ORENSTEIN<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
ELI WOLFE<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
DARWIN BONDGRAHAM<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n