Barbara Lee moves ahead in Oakland mayoral race
Former U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee has pulled ahead in the Oakland mayoral race. She now has a commanding lead against Loren Taylor. The Alameda County Registrar of Voters released new numbers Friday evening. They show Lee leading Taylor by less than 5,000 votes.
The former congresswoman responded to the results saying "This evening's results are encouraging. I decided to run for Mayor knowing that Oakland is a deeply divided City–and I ran to unite our community. We worked hard every day to earn every vote."
Lee represented Oakland in congress from 1998 to 2025. She also served in the California State Assembly for six years and the state Senate for two. She earned an undergraduate degree from Mills College in Oakland and a master's degree in social work from UC Berkeley.
Friday's numbers show Lee with 50.06% of the vote. According to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters to win she needs 50% plus one vote. The registrar's office says they still have approximately 300 vote by mail ballots that need to be cured for signatures. There are also ballots that were post-marked on Tuesday.
Oakland uses a ranked choice system. It allows people to vote for their favorite but then list other candidates in order of preference. After the first count, if neither of the two leading candidates get more than 50% of the votes, they get to collect the "ranked" votes cast for them, in order, until one achieves more than half the votes and wins.
The next results are scheduled to be released next Friday, April 25, 2025.
