Early Oakland election results are in, with Lee poised to win and many more votes to count
on November 3, 2026
The Alameda County Registrar of Voters released early election results 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.
Results in the charts below reflect numbers released after 11 p.m., when the county had a partial count from polling sites.
Mayor Barbara Lee was poised to win, with 85% of the votes counted. All of her challengers has voting percentages in the single digits: business owner and longtime community advocate Brenda Grisham, educator and researcher Mindy Pechenuk, and community investment executive Julius Robinson.
Voters also seem ready to give Lee more power, as a measure that City Council floated to change the city’s charter, giving the mayor more authority, had nearly three-quarter of early returns.
“You wanted action, you wanted accountability, and you wanted results that you can see and feel, and that’s what we’re going to deliver together,” Lee said in declaring victory Tuesday night. “We’re all so proud of all of you for helping us see Measure EE, which I supported, because Oakland deserves a government that moves faster and that works better.”
Allim Moor, 62, an East Oakland resident who cares deeply about affordable housing and economic equity, said he is a strong supporter of 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.”
With the race looking strong for Wang, opponent Nate Adams said he was proud of his team’s efforts.
“It was always about building a movement that would last beyond one election cycle,” Adams said.
Janani Ramachandran ran 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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