Oakland Election 2022
on November 8, 2022
Final election results put Loren Taylor in the lead for mayor.
Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 12 a.m. Signing off for the night!
On Tuesday, 30,611 Alameda County residents cast their votes in person. In all, 170,000 people voted in the election. The turnout, counting mail-in ballots, was a low 18% of registered voters.
The Alameda County election result website is reflecting that 100% of the votes have been counted, but that doesn’t count mail-in ballots, which needed to be postmarked by Tuesday. All results are considered unofficial until certified, which happens days after the election.
All eyes in Oakland are on the mayor’s race. However, no mayoral candidate has reached over 50% of the votes, which is required. Because of ranked-choice, a runoff will continue until a candidate gets over half of the votes. Council member Loren Taylor was leading the race with 34.82% of the votes around midnight.
Mayor
The mayoral race will head to the ranked-choice runoffs, with council member Sheng Thao in second place with 28.73 % of the vote and the remaining eight candidates all far behind.
Results for the DA, City Council and School Board races at midnight
Alameda County District Attorney
Terry Wiley: 52.33% (74,035 votes)
City Council District 2
Nikki Fortunato Bas: 59.8% (2,355 votes)
City Council District 4
Janani Ramachandran: 64.19% (5,521 votes)
City Council District 6
Kevin Jenkins: 68.02% (2,693 votes)
School board District 2
Jennifer Brouhard: 52.44% (2,011 votes)
School Board District 4
Nick Resnick: 42.50% (3,498 votes)
School Board District 6
Valarie Bachelor: 45.87% (1,779 votes)
Signing off for tonight. We will return tomorrow to update the mayoral runoff. Good night, Oaklanders!
Reporting by Bella Arnold and Emma Garcia
We probably won’t know who the next Oakland mayor is tonight. Here’s why:
The mayoral race uses ranked-choice voting, where voters rank multiple candidates, in order of preference.
As The Oaklandside explained, if any of the mayoral candidates receives more than 50% of the vote, the election is over and they win. If not, candidates begin the runoff process. This means that the candidate with the lowest number of first-choice votes will be eliminated. Their supporters’ second-choice votes will be distributed to candidates still in the running. This process continues until a candidate receives over 50% of the vote.
9:30 p.m. Loren Taylor is still leading the mayoral race, but many votes have yet to be counted.
Mayor
Loren Taylor is in the lead with 11,129 votes and 35.74% of the votes. Sheng Thao is following closely behind with 9,135 votes and 29.34% of the votes. In third place, Ignacio De La Fuente has received 3,981 votes and 12.78% of the votes. The margins could dramatically change as ranked-choice votes start being counted.
District Attorney
Terry Wiley is currently leading the district attorney race, with 64,640 votes and 52.16% of the votes. Pamela Price is close behind, with 59,288 votes and 47.84% of the votes.
District 2 city council member
Nikki Fortunado Bas is leading, with 2,116 votes and 59.79% of the votes. Harold Lowe has received 1,423 votes, which amounts to 40.21% of the total votes.
District 4 city council member
Janna Ramchandran is leading, with 5,156 votes and 64.38% of the votes. Harold Lowe has received 2,853, which amounts to 35.62% of the total votes.
District 6 city council member
Kevin Jenkins is leading, with 2,442 votes and 68.96% of the votes. Nancy Sidebotham, in second place, has received 494 votes and 13.95% of the votes. Yakpasua Michael Ggagba Zazaboi and Kenny Session are in third and fourth place, respectively.
District 2 school director
Jennifer Brouhard is in the lead with 1,804 votes and 52.23% of the votes. David Kakishiba is in second place, with 1,255 votes and 36.33% of the votes. Max Orozco is in third place, with 395 votes, which amounts to 11.44% of the votes.
District 4 school director
Nick Resnick is in the lead with 3,299 votes and 43.06% of the votes. Mike Hutchinson is in second place, with 2,595 votes and 33.87% of the votes. Peculiar Manigo is in third place, with 1,767 votes, which amounts to 23.06% of the votes.
District 6 school director
Valarie Bachelor is in the lead with 1,568 votes and 45.17% of the votes. Kyra Mungia is close behind, with 1,498 votes and 43.16% of the votes. Joel Velasquez is in third place, with 405 votes, which amounts to 11.67% of the votes.
9:00 p.m. Stay tuned!
Polls closed at 8 p.m. We are keeping an eye on results and will post more later tonight. Until then!
7:25 p.m. When can we expect results? (Please, let it not be midnight…)
Normally, the county registrar’s office posts the first batch of election results shortly after polls close at 8 p.m. We were told by the registrar’s staff earlier today that this was the plan, including results for the high-profile Oakland mayor’s race.
But other news outlets say they’ve been told otherwise.
San Francisco Chronicle Data Editor Dan Kopf is referring to two releases of vote counts. The first is a simple count of every voter’s first choice in the mayor’s race. In past elections, this has been made available early in the evening.
The second batch of results is the ranked-choice runoff, where the candidates with the fewest votes get eliminated, and their second-choice votes get redistributed among the remaining candidates. This runoff process continues until one candidate reaches more than 50% of the total votes. (Read more about how rank-choice voting in Oakland works here.)
We’ve put in calls and emails to the registrar’s office seeking clarification about when the first choice and ranked-choice vote tallies will be posted but haven’t heard back yet.
Here’s to hoping it’s not a super late night before we have at least a small window into how the Oakland mayor’s race might shake out.
Reporting by Darwin BondGraham, The Oaklandside
7:20 p.m. Mother-daughter duo hit the polls together
Jan McCan, 57, voted today with her daughter, Lela Mays.
McCan and Mays had national and local concerns that pushed them to come out and vote.
Inflation was the first thing that McCan was concerned about. Homelessness and trash dumping followed.
McCan and May said they voted for Loren Taylor in the Oakland mayoral race.
“We wanted a person of color to vote,” Mays said. “If it’s a person of color, that means that they’re going to be looking out for everyone, in my opinion.”
Reporting by Sobhan Hassanvand
7:00 p.m. Eastman works in patient care at Kaiser, but today, served as a poll worker
Fay Eastman, aged 44, works as a patient care technician in the intensive care unit at Kaiser Oakland, but today she served as a poll worker for the second time. Eastman was at Burckhalter Elementary School.
“I started working at the polls, cause normally I help out with my union, with our political department. I love to do doorknocking. But this time I was like, okay, I want to actually work the polls and be in my community.”
One of the issues on the ballot Eastman cares about the most is Prop 29.
“Prop 29 is really close and dear to me. It’s important to me to keep the dialysis centers running. Make sure they have the right doctors and nurses because I’m in a medical field,” Eastman said.
“And my mother and my grandmother were dialysis patients, so I really want that to pass. I want them to be able to get the right care and have the right amount of staff there to help it.”
Reporting by Cayla Mihalovich
6:45 p.m. Kickboxing trainer says change happens at the local level
Byron Green, 42, kickboxing trainer, lives around the corner from Burckhalter Elementary School in Eastmont.
Green says, “It’s about bringing a fresh outlook and focus to the things I find important: homelessness, education, money for arts.”
Green also feels local elections are where the impact happens.
“It’s a trickle up,” he said. “In order to affect national change, first we need to do it on a local level. It’s important to vote and use your voice.”
Reporting by Cayla Mihalovich
5:45 p.m. Mayoral candidate Loren Taylor’s last minute campaigning, responds to coal allegations
Oakland reporters ran into mayoral candidate Loren Taylor doing last-minute campaigning across from Burckhalter Elementary School. Oakland reporters Shannon Faulise and Sobhan Hassanvand ask Taylor how he’s feeling about the election and get his response to opponent Sheng Thao’s allegations that Taylor is connected to the coal industry that is polluting Oakland.
Reporting by Sobhan Hassanvand, Shannon Faulise and Cayla Mihalovich
4:00 p.m. A rainy day could be impacting voter turnout
Reporting by Saumya Gupta and Gisselle Medina
3:30 p.m. Voter Bograd believes her vote could make a difference
Lisa Bograd, 52, psychotherapist, came to vote at Montero Middle School because she doesn’t take the right to vote for granted.
“We need to see democracy in action and it’s under threat, and I feel really proud to be able to come to a voting booth where I’m not being intimidated.”
Bograd added that in this election, making abortion rights codified is the one issue that matters to her most.
“In this country we are blessed to have a democracy where our vote could actually matter,” Bograd said. “It is my personal responsibility to exercise that right.”
Reporting by Saumya Gupta
3:15 p.m. Update from mayoral candidate Gregory Hodge
Oakland mayoral candidate Gregory Hodge spoke to Oakland North this afternoon on the phone.
Hodge said that he already casted his vote at noon today at the West Oakland Public Library and that he’s excited about the possibilities.
Hodge said he was very humbled by the support from his supporters and friends and the whole experience as well. But his campaign work is not quite done.
This afternoon, Hodge plans to reach out to voters via phone to encourage anyone who hasn’t voted yet to get out and vote.
He believes the election is important nationally as well as in Oakland where the city is electing a new mayor, councilmembers and school board members.
“The ecosystem of politics will change no matter who’s elected,” said Hodge.
Finally, Hodge highlighted the importance of participating in elections.
“It’s a great equalizer in American society that people can vote, make their voices heard. It’s that one opportunity that your voice matters as much as anybody else’s.”
Information about Hodge and all of the mayoral candidates is available on The Oaklandside website.
Reporting by Sobhan Hassanvand
2:40 p.m. Oakland resident encourages folks to vote
Spencer Short, a property inspector, voted in person because he wanted to learn more about Oakland mayoral candidates by talking to folks. Short wants to make an informed decision and thinks that everyone who is able to vote should come out and do so.
It’s my right. If I don’t vote, then what good am I?
Spencer Short, who voted today at Joaquin Miller Center
Reporting by Gisselle Medina
2:15 p.m. A chance meeting in East Oakland
District 7 councilmember and mayoral hopeful Treva Reid was at Allen Temple Baptist Church on International Boulevard and 85th Avenue in East Oakland, where she’d taken her mother to vote.
“When you think of voting, you think of the power of the Black church,” she told The Oaklandside.
By chance, she ran into District 6 Councilmember Loren Taylor, who is also running for mayor. (Reid and Taylor have endorsed one another’s campaigns in a ranked-choice alliance.) Taylor said he made it a point to cast his vote at Allen Temple with family members.
“My mom is a member here, I grew up going here,” he said. “I was tearing up inside. I have an overwhelming sense of gratitude.”
The people showing up to vote were diverse: Black, Latino, Asian, Middle Eastern, and a small handful of white voters comingled in the gym, where voting was taking place due to the rain.
82-year-old Felix Guillory, who works as a security guard at the Temple, was greeting voters—most of whom seemed to know him—and encouraging people to wear masks. The former U.S. Marine and retired marketing professional said he used to come to the neighborhood surrounding Allen Temple often as a kid, to visit an uncle who lived on 86th Avenue, and described the church as “an oasis in a desert.” He said he voted by mail this year due to his bad back, which makes it tough to stand in one place for too long.
Guillory took the opportunity to meet Reid and Taylor, but said neither received his vote. “I didn’t bite for anyone that was here today, let’s just say it that way,” said Guillory. He described Oakland’s current mayor Libby Schaaf as “limited” and said he’s looking for a mayor with knowledge of all of Oakland’s neighborhoods.
Louis Pegross, a retired city employee, moved to Oakland from Louisiana in 1969 and lives up the street from Allen Temple. Pegross said he decided to vote in person because he’s “old school” and that in years past, it was how people made sure their vote counted.
“I was born in 1950. It wasn’t always a privilege to vote. I want to honor MLK and all the others by doing my part. Voting is an American right and I do believe Black people need to vote. I never want to lose that right.”
Pegross said his priorities for the incoming mayor are homelessness and affordable housing. He said Taylor and Sheng Thao are his top choices.
“Any of the candidates can make it happen if they want to, doesn’t mean it’s going to,” he said. “I’m hopeful we will get a change. How big of a change, I don’t know.”
Reporting by Ricky Rodas, The Oaklandside
1:50 p.m. First time voter shows up for future generations
Reporting by Saumya Gupta
1:30 p.m. “I want to help make Oakland a safer community for my family.”
Lisa Bower, marketing specialist who voted at Montera Middle School, came to drop off her ballot with her young son.
“My son is the forefront for why I’m voting today,” Bower said. “I want to help make Oakland a safer community for my family.”
When asked what are the most important issues in the community that she would like to see changed, she immediately responded that homeless people need more resources to survive.
“Providing low-income housing or solutions for homeless people, including rehabilitation programs, is what matters most to me.”
Reporting by Gisselle Medina
1:00 p.m. Voter Subramanyam planned to vote by mail, but headed to the polls instead
Varsha Subramanyam, an Oakland resident working in public health, voted at Williams Chapel Baptist Church today.
Subramanyam was going to mail in her ballot but accidentally made a mistake on it. So she headed to the polls.
“I felt really nurtured. As soon as you walk in, they welcome you and move you toward the right places and explain instructions very clearly.”
California now mails ballots to all registered voters, a shift that began at the height of the pandemic and became permanent in September 2021.
Subramanyam added that she is excited to see who will become Oakland’s next mayor with ranked-choice voting.
“Being a little jaded with national politics and other larger-level politics, it feels like there’s more agency and locus of control here in Oakland.”
Reporting by Celeste Hamilton Dennis
11:45 a.m. Phone call with district attorney candidate Terry Wiley
On the morning of Election Day, Oakland North reporters reached out to the candidates for district attorney.
“I feel confident that our campaign has resonated with a majority of the voters,” said Terry Wiley. “We all acknowledge that there need to be changes to our criminal justice system that will make it a more fair and just system, but we also have to maintain the safety of our communities.”
We are currently waiting on a comment from district attorney candidate Pamela Price.
It’s the first time in 13 years that Alameda County will choose a new district attorney, as current District Attorney Nancy O’Malley heads into retirement without appointing a successor. Civil rights attorney Pamela Price and Alameda County Chief Deputy District Attorney Terry Wiley face off during a year that’s seen a wave of violent crime. As the county’s top prosecutor, the district attorney decides what charges, if any, to bring against an individual following an arrest by police.
Reporting by Cayla Mihalovich and Suamya Gupta
11:00 a.m. Voters at Oakland Public Library
Danielle Williams voted this morning at Oakland Public Library and wore a prominent “I voted” sticker on the front of her sweater. Williams, who works in global merchandising at Levi’s, says voting is not just for her anymore, but her 2-year-old daughter as well.
“The choices I make today will impact her life and her future,” Williams said. “So I just want to set the stage for her and make sure I make all the right choices, and give her all the right resources in order to take on these challenges.”
Williams has lived in Jack London Square in Oakland for five years. She says she is engaged with all the races but feels especially invested the mayoral and gubernatorial races as well as the fight for abortion rights.
Another community member, Charles Johnson, 62, also voted at the Oakland Public Library today. Johnson is an African American and American Indian real estate investor and tax professional who has been voting since he was 17 and a half.
“I believe in justice,” Johnson said. “I support the police officers very much. I’d say 95% of them are great people, but there’s a handful sometimes that take the law in their own hands and they need to be held accountable.”
Johnson said he felt grateful to vote in California as a lot of his family is in the South, and he has seen how voting rights are attempting to be restricted there.
Reporting by Celeste Hamilton
9:45 a.m. Prop 1 is a priority for voter Lee
Reporting by Celeste Hamilton Dennis
9:30 a.m. What does voter turnout look like so far?
The registrar’s office issued 931,000 ballots to every registered voter in Alameda County last month. So far, 264,000 voters have returned their ballot, a turnout rate of 28%.
In Oakland, there are 246,500 registered voters and 65,000 have already sent them back—a return rate of 26%.
So how do these numbers compare to prior elections?
It’s too early to tell. Voters have until 8 p.m. today to vote in person or drop their ballot into an official drop box. Ballots will also count if they’re mailed and timestamped today, even if it doesn’t arrive at the registrar’s office for several more days. Expect the turnout numbers to grow rapidly today as people rush to get their ballots in.
When it’s all said and done, the 2020 election will probably offer the best comparison in regard to voter turnout, since that was the first year in which all registered voters in Alameda County received a ballot in the mail. Voters took full advantage, resulting in a phenomenal turnout rate of 81%—three-quarters of which were ballots returned by mail. A total of 785,000 people voted in that election countywide.
But 2020 was also a presidential election with Trump and Biden on the ballot, which motivated many East Bay voters to participate.
This year could be a lot more like the 2018 election—the last federal midterm in which Oakland elected a mayor. Approximately 587,500 people voted in Alameda County that year, a turnout rate of 67%.
Reporting by Darwin BondGraham, The Oaklandside
9:05 a.m. Update from Fruitvale Elementary
It started off rainy and quiet at Fruitvale Elementary when the polls opened at 7 a.m., but folks have started to trickle in.
Raul Lagura, 53 and a social worker, says education, housing and environment are the main issues for him. When it comes to his top mayoral choice, it’s Greg Hodge.
“He’s been in the Oakland community for the longest time and also worked with the Oakland board, so he was my choice.”
William Lash, a high school teacher, shares his approach to voting and how he’s feeling about the election in the audio clips below.
Reporting by Florence Middleton
8:45 a.m. Voter Bouvia shares top priorities on his agenda
Reporting by Celeste Hamilton Dennis
8:30 a.m. Update from Oakland Public Library
Reporting by Emma Garcia
7:30 a.m. Flood advisory in Oakland
As voters headed to the polls Tuesday, the National Weather Service issued a flood advisory for low-lying areas in Oakland, including portions of Interstates 880, 980 and 580, until 8:30 a.m.
Rain is expected to continue until early afternoon, which could affect voter turnout.
Reporting by Christine Schiavo
7 a.m. The polls are open
Good morning, Oakland voters.
The polls are open and will remain so until 8 p.m. If you want to cast your ballot in person, you can go to any of the 100 Vote Centers in Alameda County. You also may return mail-in ballots at those locations.
Oakland North will be talking to voters at the polls and posting results as soon as they are available. So check our website throughout the day for the latest Oakland election news, and follow us on Twitter @northoaklandnow.
Here are the races we will be following for you today:
Oakland mayor
You have a huge field of candidates in this one. Ignacio De La Fuente, Greg Hodge, Tyron Jordan, Peter Liu, Treva Reid, John Reimann, Seneca Scott, Loren Taylor, Sheng Thao and Allyssa Victory
City Council
District 2 — Nikki Forunato Bas (incumbent) and Harold Lowe
District 4 – Nenna Joiner and Janani Ramachandran (Incumbent Sheng Thao is running for mayor)
District 6 — Yakpasua Michael Gbagba Zazaboi, Kevin Jenkins, Kenny Session and Nancy Sidebotham (Incumbent Loren Taylor is running for mayor)
Oakland Unified School District Director
District 2 — Jennifer Brouhard, David Kakishiba and Max Orozco (Incumbent Aimee Eng is not running)
District 4 — Mike Hutchinson, Pecolia Manigo and Nick Resnick (Hutchinson is the District 5 incumbent but redistricting pushed him into District 4, where incumbent Gary Yee is not seeking reelection.)
District 6 — Valarie Bachelor, Kyra Mungia (incumbent) and Joel Velasquez
Alameda County District Attorney
Pamela Price and Terry Wiley
Here are the Alameda County Voting Centers
Interactive map by Sobhan Hassanvand
The Oaklandside contributed to this report
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