Mayor Thao rallies against recall, with help from a former Oakland mayor and other supporters

At an event launching  the campaign to fight her recall, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said Sunday that the FBI raid of her home in June was an “overreach” by the agency. 

Likening it to the  investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails just two weeks before the 2016 presidential election, Thao said the ongoing FBI probe is “undoubtedly putting a finger on the scale, influencing this election.” 

Thao reiterated that she is innocent, is not the target of the investigation, and has not been charged with any crime. Although the FBI hasn’t disclosed the nature of the investigation, agents also raided the homes of California Waste Solutions CEO David Duong and his son, Andy, and searched the company’s office. The company provides recycling collection services to Oakland. The Oakland Ethics Commission has been investigating allegations that the family has used straw donations — money channeled through a third party — to get around campaign contribution limits.

At the news conference outside the Rockridge BART Station, Thao asked voters to let the justice system run its course. 

“I ask you to keep in mind that everyone is innocent until proven guilty,” Thao said. “A recall that is related to a possible FBI investigation is not the way the rule of law is supposed to work.” 

The FBI declined to comment on Thao’s claims. 

The mayor was joined by about 30 supporters, including Igor Tregub, chair of the Alameda County Democratic Party, and former Oakland Mayor Jean Quan. One person in the crowd held a sign that read: “Oakland is not for sale.” 

Thao was elected in 2022. The campaign to recall her was launched in January and gathered steam after the FBI raid. Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao, the recall campaign’s official coordinating committee, has raised $581,221. According to records filed with the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, the largest chunk of the money went to On The Ground Inc., which, according to its website, specializes in generating constituent phone calls, door-to-door canvassing and voter ID, and collecting signatures. Between January and September, the company was paid $362,000.

Gail Harbin, the spokesperson and treasurer of Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao took issue with the mayor’s comments. “She is gaslighting and everyone sees it,” Harbin said. “She is trying to throw people off from her own problems with her straw donors.”

Thao defended her record and argued that a potentially rapid succession of mayors would throw Oakland into a state of uncertainty. She railed against Philip Dreyfuss, a hedge fund manager who has donated more than $480,000 to the recall effort, saying  that Dreyfuss does not care about the instability in Oakland because he does not live there. 

Dreyfuss, a partner at San Francisco’s Farallon Capital Management, lives in  Piedmont. Dreyfuss did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Quan called the recall campaign a “strategy by big money people to harass new, young progressive leaders.” Quan was the first woman and the first Asian American to be elected mayor of Oakland and faced an unsuccessful recall campaign in 2012. 

Tregub said Thao has been a champion for justice and that the Alameda County Democratic Party stands in solidarity with the mayor. “We are not going back,” said Tregub, invoking a slogan of the Kamala Harris presidential campaign. 

Photos by Ahamad Fuwad

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