ELECTION RESULTS: Poll voters overwhelmingly favor Thao and Price recalls

(Update: After the votes were certified on Dec. 5, these were the results: Voters recalled Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price; Lateefah Simon won the 12th Congressional District seat; Oakland Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas won a seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors; Oakland City Council seats were won by Rowena Brown, Zac Unger, Noel Gallo, Carroll Fife and Ken Houston; Ryan Richardson is the new city attorney. In the Oakland Unified School District, Rachel Latta, Vancedric Williams, Patrice Berry and Clifford Thompson were elected to the School Board. Measure MM, which funds fire prevention, Measure NN, which increases property taxes to fund public safety programs, and Measure OO, which expands the Public Ethics Commission, were all successful.)

With all voting precincts reporting Tuesday, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price appeared headed for recalls.

On both ballots, nearly two-thirds of voters chose to recall Thao and Price. The results are far from final, with mail-in ballots being counted in the coming days, and certification of the vote not until December.

Five council seats are up for reelection and only two incumbents are asking voters to return them, which means the council will have at least three fresh faces in January. So far, voters favor Rowena Brown for the at-large seat, followed closely by former Oakland Police Chief Leronne Armstrong, who was fired by Thao.

In District 1, Oakland firefighter Zac Unger was leading. Incumbent Carroll Fife was ahead in District 3, as well as incumbent Noel Gallo in District 5. Ken Houston was leading in District 7, where Councilmember Treva Reid currently holds the seat.

Reid, as well as District 1 Councilmember Dan Kalb and at-large Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan did not seek reelection.

Oakland North caught up with candidates for various offices and some of their supporters at the polls and at evening watch parties.

8:25 p.m. Lateefah Simon watch party

8.25 p.m. On the patio of the Oakland Museum of California, supporters of 12th Congressional District candidate Lateefah Simon watch as the first estimates pop up on television. With only 19% oof the votes counted, Simon has a strong lead over Jennifer Tran. 

“I’m hoping for hope,” said Simon supporter Charlese Banks. “I think the election will go in a way that shows that we are hopeful.”

Incoming BART board director Barnali Ghosh said she’d been so focused on the local election results and hadn’t really been paying attention to the presidential election updates.

“I kind of want to just be here and be with people and celebrate some of the things we get to celebrate at the local level,” Ghosh said. “I think on the local level, it’s more about nuances. We live in a place where sometimes there’s no very obvious difference between candidates. I think there’s been a few seats that I’ve looked at where both candidates are great, and that’s kind of amazing, because then you get to talk about the nuances of the issues and it’s not polarized.”

Current U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee said she felt that she was leaving the district in good hands. “We leave with an example of progressive, people-centered approaches to challenges, and we show each and every day what democracy is truly about,” she said. “I can’t think of a better person to embody that spirit than you, Lateefah.”

Reporting by Richard H. Grant and Lili Euzet

6 p.m. Warren Logan watch party 

Ryan Loughlin walked around Brix Factory Brewing — beer in hand and baby in tow — at an election watch party for Warren Logan, who is running for Oakland’s District 3 seat. 

“He represents just a completely new approach,” said Loughlin. “He has some really great ideas for helping to turn around both the city and the neighborhood here.”

Yarema Belej, 43, said he voted for Logan because he believes Logan stands for change. 

“I think the person who was here before just wasn’t very effective,” said Belej, speaking of incumbent Carroll Fife. “She was leading a full progressive movement that never really did work well before.“

Logan, an adviser for Progress Public Affairs, said he was feeling “incredibly enthusiastic” about the work his campaign team did and the reception he has received from voters. His goals, he said, are “making sure streets are clean, making sure that people feel safe walking around our community.”

Reporting By Inaara Gangji and Kelly Liu

5:06 pm – Voters at the Jack London Aquatic Center Weigh In on the Recall

The Jack London Aquatic Center was buzzing with activity as voters filled the parking lot. 

Emery Dawdell, a lifelong Oakland resident who works in the cannabis industry, voted “yes” on the Thao Thao. 

“She seems kind of shady,” Dawdell said, referring to the ongoing FBI investigation that included a raid on the mayor’s home in June.

Sharon Flynn, a 60-year-old therapist, also voted for the recall. Flynn said poor leadership and issues with the city’s finances were factors that contributed to her decision.

Reporting by Sara Martin

4:45 pm – Multigenerational Voters at Mills

At Mills College at Northeastern University, Sarah Lewis voted with her daughter, Naomi Warren, a Spelman College graduate who was excited to vote for a fellow HBCU graduate, Vice President Kamala Harris, who went to Howard University.

“I’m a firm believer in giving Black women an opportunity, so I voted for Kamala because she’s an example that girls like me can be president,” said Warren, who voted for the first time in this election,

On getting to vote with her daughter for the first time, Lewis, said:  “It’s our responsibility to vote because our ancestors could not, so I will.”

Prospective voters at the college polling site were being stopped at the gate and asked to present identification. At first, Oakland North reporters were denied entrance to the campus. 

In polling places, California voters do not have to present identification.

Reporting by NeEddra James

4:23 p.m. Recalls and Propositions – They’re Not Easy to Understand.

Cody Sulka, a 20-year-old college student at Brandeis University, decided not to back the recall of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. 

“Three-quarters of it is funded by some rich guy in Piedmont,” Sulka said.

Sulka is also skeptical about propositions, of which there are 10 statewide for Californians to decide on this year. 

“I was reading up on that one weird one that was about the renters association targeting the AIDS foundation,” said Sulka, referring to Prop 34. “I was like, what?”

Prop 34, the “Protect Patients Now Act,” would require that certain health care providers spend 98% of their revenue on direct patient care. Critics have pointed out that it will target a singular nonprofit, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in Los Angeles, but the language on the ballot does not make that apparent. 

Reporting by Anna Zou

2:12 pm Sankofa United Elementary School, North Oakland

Outside Sankofa Elementary School, construction equipment buzzed, as cars passed by and voters ambled up the stairs through the entrance, covered in voting signs and posters. 

Shelagh Murry and Chris Deccerra, a former accountant and a labor union employee, stood outside wearing matching “I voted” stickers. 

Murry said she’s worried by allegations that the recalls are funded by Oakland outsiders. 

“I feel like in a crisis, maybe we should have the power to recall, but initiating a recall pretty much immediately after a person has been voted in strikes me as a problem,” Murry said. 

“I don’t like that people with a lot of money can override the will of the voters so quickly.” 

Reporting by Xavey Bzdek

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Jennifer Ugwa and Nava Rawls also contributed to this story. Top photo of Mayor Sheng Thao thronged by reporters on election night, by Inaara Gangji.

This story was updated to remove a quote that was incorrectly attributed to Lateefah Simon; and to include certified election results.