Quan celebrates victory, fundraises to alleviate campaign debt

Jean Quan

A wave of applause and a flurry of camera flashes greeted Mayor-elect Jean Quan on Friday night at her celebratory dinner, marking the end of her campaign and the beginning of her transition to becoming Oakland’s first female and Asian American mayor. “Did we make history? We made history,” Quan said proudly to nearly 200 people who attended the dinner at King of King, a Chinese restaurant in East Oakland.

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In China, Quan’s Mayoral Victory is “Huihuang!” — “Glorious!”

Screen shot of Jean Quan article on Chinese news website

It was 10 o’ clock in the morning in Beijing when the announcement that Jean Quan had won the Oakland mayoral race came out. About two hours later, readers of sina.com, sohu.com and 163.com—the three largest Chinese portals, where millions of Chinese consume their daily news, could learn about the new mayor of a city 10,000 miles away.

“Miracle: third-generation Chinese American is Oakland’s new mayor” was the headline on the website of Qiaobao, the largest Chinese-language newspaper in the U.S. Its front-page op-ed, using language even more emphatic than any from Quan’s campaign, read, “Jean Quan gloriously rewrites the political history of America.”

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Oaklanders weigh in on the mayoral showdown

After Friday’s ranked-choice vote tally, Councilmember Jean Quan leads the Oakland mayoral race  51.1 percent of the vote to Don Perata’s 48.9 percent. With about 15,000 ballots left to count in Oakland, Berkeley and San Leandro races, an announcement of the final results is expected Monday. Watch this video to see what Oaklanders think of…

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In Oakland mayoral race, Quan takes lead over Perata

Jean Quan

Oakland mayoral candidate Jean Quan overtook fellow candidate Don Perata this afternoon in the computer-run calculation of second and third-choice votes in Oakland’s new ranked-choice voting system. Although several thousand votes remain uncounted, Quan said she’s “feeling very good” about the latest results.

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Now, to find out who’s Oakland’s mayor … we wait

Though mayoral candidate Don Perata leads at the ballot box—11 points above his nearest competitor, with all Oakland precincts reporting—the city’s new ranked-choice voting system means it could be more than a week before a new mayor is formally selected. Under the rules of ranked-choice voting, a system approved by nearly more than two-thirds of…

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Oakland Votes: Election Day 2010

Polls have officially closed in California. Oakland North has reporters in the field submitting photos and content for up-to-date election coverage. Check back for the most current politics news in Oakland as the election results roll in.

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Terence Candell fights for role as mayor

Terence Candell

Oakland mayoral candidate Terence Candell isn’t an easy man to ignore—in fact, he believes it is one of the keys to being elected mayor of Oakland. “What do I say to the people who think that I’m going to scare people away? I say good!” he said. “Its about time that they met a real black man who doesn’t back down when someone gets scared.”

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Tracking the candidates’ financial interests

Oakland City Hall

This information helps voters make informed decisions, and helps the public detect any potential conflicts of interest that might tempt an official to use her office for personal gain. In California, this information is recorded on a document called the “Statement of Economic Interests,” or Form 700 under the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission.

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Oakland voters name their top mayoral picks

Oaklanders like Gene Stuckey offer their perspectives on the city's upcoming mayoral race.

Ten candidates, one mayoral race. As November 2 approaches, which of these candidates is making an impression on the people of Oakland? Twelve days before the 2010 election, Oakland North went to the corner of 51st street and Telegraph to find out.

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Small business owner Arnie Fields aims for top Oakland job

Arnie Fields talking politics behind the bar at Revolution Cafe.

Of the ten people running for mayor in Oakland this fall, Arnold Fields—Arnie to his friends, and if you’re voting in Oakland, he considers you a friend—may be the candidate whose campaign most resembles his life before politics. Between appearances on the campaign circuit, Fields still pulls double duty as a real estate broker and as the owner and operator of Revolution Café, a West Oakland coffee shop and bar that doubles as his campaign headquarters.

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