Early Oakland election results are in, with many more votes to count
on November 3, 2026
The Alameda County Registrar of Voters released the first batch of election results at 9 p.m. Tuesday. The earliest returns include mail-in ballots and drop-box ballots received by Election Day. Later counts will include in-person poll tallies and ballots that the country receives until Nov. 10.
There are four candidates for mayor: incumbent Barbara Lee, business owner and longtime community advocate Brenda Grisham, educator and researcher Mindy Pechenuk, and community investment executive Julius Robinson.
Allim Moor, 62, an East Oakland resident who cares deeply about affordable housing and economic equity, said he is a strong supporter of Barbara Lee.
“I think she has a lot of integrity, has a lot of experience. She’s very intentional with the things that she’s done throughout her political career, specifically for the city of Oakland,” Moor said.
George Holland, an 85-year-old East Oakland resident, praised Lee’s leadership and acknowledged the decades she represented the East Bay in Congress.
“She wants everybody to be respected. Everybody has an equal chance. And that’s what she’s concerned about,” Holland said.
District 2 resident Joyce Ching supports Charlene Wang.
“She’s got a lot of experience,” Ching said. “She knows what she’s talking about when it comes to public policy, what comes out of her speeches is mainly just solutions, so she’s very much solutions based.”
Janani Ramachandran is running unopposed for Oakland City Council District 4. She is the youngest person ever to serve on the Oakland City Council and the city’s first South Asian and LGBTQ woman of color elected to the council.
Two candidates are competing for the Oakland City Council District 6: incumbent Kevin Jenkins, who currently serves as City Council president, and Nancy Sidebotham, a longtime Oakland resident who has lived in the city since 1964.
Michael Houston, Oakland’s incumbent city auditor, is also running unopposed for reelection this year. He joined Oakland’s City Auditor’s Office in 2019 as the Whistleblower Program Manager and was promoted to assistant city auditor in 2021. He previously worked at the San Jose City Auditor’s Office and California State University, East Bay.
Ballot measures
There are two local ballot measures. Measure EE would shift Oakland to a “strong mayor” system, where the mayor would serve as the city’s chief executive and the City Council would gain additional powers.
Kaila Mathis, an Oakland voter, said she wants the City Council to be more accountable and believes changes are needed to improve how the city is governed.
“I’ve seen instances where Oakland City Council members did a little bit too much, and that’s what kind of affected my vote,” Mathis said.
Measure FF would expand Oakland’s real estate transfer tax to include properties sold through foreclosure, with certain exceptions. The tax is a major source of revenue for the city.
The three Oakland Unified School District board races all are contested. In District 2, incumbent board President Jennifer Brouhard faces Arielle Fleisher, a policy director.
In District 4, incumbent board member Mike Hutchinson is running against Kathryn Camp, a public policy professional, and Sylvia Williams, an adult educator.
In District 6, incumbent board Vice President Valarie Bachelor faces LeAna Powell, a family advocate, and Alexandra Williams, a teacher.
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