Election 2010

Many Oaklanders have heard mayoral candidate Joe Tuman talk about politics, but they might not know it. Before he declared himself a candidate in Oakland’s most hotly contested race, he spent over twenty years as a political analyst and a talking head on TV, making him a familiar yet nameless voice in the region’s politics.

With one candidate refusing to participate, nine of the ten contenders for the job of Oakland mayor addressed a room packed beyond capacity Thursday night, stating their positions on public safety, the city budget, and local ballot measures.

This November, Oakland voters won’t just be choosing the city’s next mayor—they’ll be changing the balance of power in the city’s legislature as well, as Jean Quan steps down from her city council position of eight years in order to run for mayor. Quan currently represents the wildly diverse swath of Oakland marked as District 4, and with seven new faces contending for her position, voters in that area face a range of candidates not seen in over a decade.

Mayoral candidate Joe Tuman opened a new campaign office at 3219 Grand Avenue only a few weeks ago—not entirely because he wanted one, but because his participation in an upcoming mayoral forum depended upon it.

Meg Whitman’s Oakland campaign office is a modest white building, tucked between a Subway restaurant and an unrented space on Lakeshore Avenue, distinguished only by the “Meg 2010” signs in every window. The Republican gubernatorial candidate’s office has turned heads and raised questions about the strategy of establishing a campaign headquarters in Oakland, opponent Jerry Brown’s home turf.