Barbara Lee Set to Become Oakland Mayor as Loren Taylor Concedes 

Updated at 4 p.m. Saturday

The special election for Oakland mayor saw a dramatic swing on Friday, as new results released by Alameda County election officials propelled former U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee into an insurmountable lead over former Oakland Councilmember Loren Taylor, who conceded Saturday morning.

Lee, who served in Congress for almost three decades, will be Oakland’s next mayor.

Making a brief appearance at an Easter carnival at the Arroyo Viejo Recreation Center on the city’s east side, Lee thanked Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins for his leadership, saying the transition would be “a moment of hope,” and praised what she called a high turnout for a special election.

“Now that’s what I call democracy working. That’s the voice of the people,” said Lee, who was joined by Jenkins, Councilmembers Rowena Brown and Ken Houston, and Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett from Texas. “We have to bring people here who understand the beauty and opportunities in Oakland and who will work with us to help us move this beautiful city forward.”

In his concession statement, Loren Taylor congratulated Lee and emphasized the need for unity going forward.

“This morning I called Congresswoman Barbara Lee to congratulate her on becoming the next Mayor of Oakland,” Taylor wrote. “I pray that Mayor-Elect Lee fulfills her commitment to unify Oakland by authentically engaging the 47% of Oaklanders who voted for me and who want pragmatic results-driven leadership.”

Lee has captured 53% of the vote, compared to 47% for Taylor. The totals include voters who picked Lee or Taylor as an alternate preference on their ranked choice ballot. Taylor held a narrow advantage after the initial results were released Tuesday.

Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins said at the Easter event Saturday that he was “thrilled to have Barbara Lee come in.”

“It seems like voters have decided that Congresswoman Barbara Lee will be the mayor elect,” said Jenkins. “I believe she’s going to be a unifier. She’s going to be the person that gets us our desperately needed charter changes that we need in our city.”

Councilmember Rowena Brown said Saturday that Lee was a “unifying factor” and that it was a “big victory” for Oakland. Councilmember Ken Houston said, “The flat land spoke, and we going to keep speaking. We going to keep voting.”

“Oakland said we going to make for a real good Friday, and we are going to send a message that we are going to rise up in this time of darkness,” said U.S. Rep Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) on Saturday. “So as you go into Easter Sunday, just remember that you have a lot to celebrate because you got a real one that’s going to be running this city.”

Friday’s update of 45,851 votes leaves only around 300 ballots which the registrar has flagged for issues with voter signatures. Those ballots can still be resolved and counted up to two days before the registrar certifies the election. And ballots postmarked by Election Day can still be counted if they are received by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters office by April 22.

The new results reflect ballots mailed or dropped off on or before Election Day and leave turnout at nearly 38%.

“Even though the race tightened and suggested an upset was possible, Barbara Lee’s name recognition and popularity were simply too much to overcome,” said Justin Berton, an Oakland media strategist and former director of communications for Mayor Libby Schaaf. “It’s still a city divided electorally — and quite literally on a map — but now she’s won the opportunity to govern and galvanize residents, and unify Oakland as promised.”

Taylor and Lee topped the field of 10 candidates running to complete the term of former Mayor Sheng Thao, who was recalled in November.

Under the city’s ranked choice voting system, voters were able to rank up to five candidates for mayor. In the instant runoff, candidates receiving the fewest votes are eliminated, and voters who ranked those candidates first have their vote moved to their second choice.

Alameda County’s Registrar of Voters has until May 15 to certify the results. In 2022, Taylor led the race for mayor for more than a week after Election Day before Thao emerged as the winner.

Against Lee, Taylor struggled to gain traction in neighborhoods below Interstate 580. Most of the precincts where Taylor is leading are in the Oakland hills, from Montclair to Chabot Park.

Other races on the ballot appear easier to decipher. Measure A, a 0.5% increase in Oakland’s sales tax, appears headed to victory with 65% of the vote. Charlene Wang holds a wide lead in a special election for the District 2 seat on the City Council.

KQED’s Brian Krans contributed to this story.