East Bay Races to Watch: Battle for Oakland

Oakland District 3, at-large races could bring a new look to the Oakland City Council; 3 of 4 ALCO congressmembers support withholding military aid for Israel; San Leandro eyes ballot measure

ELECTION 2024

NOVEMBER GENERAL ELECTION

—BATTLE FOR OAKLAND—Oakland has no shortage of aspiring elected officials. As of today, 26 individuals have already filed an intent to run in one of five Oakland City Council contests this November.

—There is reason for their exuberance. Oakland is likely to have at least two new councilmembers, and possibly three.

—Oakland’s District 3 seat held by first-term Councilmember Carroll Fife could be up-for-grabs this fall. Meanwhile, Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan is not likely to seek re-election to the at-large seat she’s held since 2008.

—The fall campaign goes a certain way, it could mean the extremely progressive Oakland City Council could get pulled slightly to the right.

—DISTRICT 3—The incumbency in Oakland is not as powerful as it once was. Fife, herself, won the District 3 seat four years ago by unseating Lynette Gibson McElhaney. Fife did so with a lot of help from unions and support from pro-affordable housing and police accountability activists.

—But Fife’s support is now slightly fractured. She was one of the main opponents of the A’s and the Howard Terminal ballpark. The demise of that project means the loss of thousands of high-paying union jobs for the trades.

—In addition, local providers haven’t forgotten about Fife’s support for Moms 4 Housing, the group that once took over a vacant home in West Oakland.

—Eight prospective candidates have filed to challenge Fife. The most problematic for Fife is Warren Logan, a transportation expert for the city, who is already making this a policy-driven campaign.

—However, Logan’s move is a high-risk, high-reward strategy that could expose Fife as the activist-first councilmember she has shown herself to be, but also put District 3 residents in a wonky stupor.

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—DOWNLOAD: Episode 86 of the East Bay Insiders Podcast with guest host Alameda County Board of Education Trustee Aisha Knowles is now available.