Loren Taylor Takes Early Lead in Oakland’s Special Election Mayoral Race

Voters are choosing a new mayor after the recall of Sheng Thao. They will also decide on a sales tax increase and fill a City Council seat.

Former Oakland city councilman and current mayoral candidate Loren Taylor gives a speech while surrounded by his family. Courtesy of Loren Taylor

Results are coming in from Oakland’s April 15 special election, with voters picking a new mayor, filling a City Council seat, and deciding on a sales tax increase.

Although results have yet to be made official by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters, the latest tallies show that in the race for mayor, former councilman Loren Taylor maintains a lead with 48.22 percent of first-round votes (23,362 votes) over U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee with 45.7 percent (22,142).

Taylor lost his previous run for mayor to Sheng Thao, who was recalled in November 2024. Taylor ran on a platform of increasing the number of Oakland police officers, reopening closed fire stations, and eliminating taxes for businesses with revenue under $1.5 million.

No other candidate has earned more than 2 percent of the vote.

Because no candidate has more than 50 percent of the votes, the winner will be determined by the rules of ranked-choice voting (RCV).

In an RCV election, when no candidate wins a majority of first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and that candidate’s votes are given to the voters’ next-ranked candidates. This process repeats, eliminating the lowest-vote candidate each round, until one candidate tops 50 percent or until two candidates are left, in which case the one with more votes wins.

The mayoral election was necessitated by the recall of Thao, who faced federal indictments for allegedly accepting bribes in return for political favors. She was formally charged in January.

A clearer result was emerging on the sales tax increase, known as Measure A, with more than 64 percent in favor of the measure, which is expected to bring in an additional $30 million annually toward closing the city’s $140 million structural budget deficit.

In the District 2 City Council race, Charlene Wang holds 50 percent of the vote. Kara Murray-Badal has 26 percent of the vote. This election is also using RCV.

Results so far show that less than 20 percent of eligible voters participated in the special election. Final results may not be known until April 18 or later.