Ishii, Bas deliver stunning victories; Three East Bay races still remain too close to call
Two races in Fremont, one in Newark remain too close to call as vote-counting nears its conclusion;
ELECTION 2024
—WINNER’S CIRCLE—Fifteen days since the initial release of Election Night results, the vote counting process in Alameda County is nearly complete after the addition of more than 17,000 counted ballots.
—Aside from a few stragglers, only a few thousand uncured ballots remain. The next update is Dec. 3, the Alameda County Registrar of Voters reports, followed by certification of the vote.
—Nikki Fortunato Bas will win the race to replace Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson in District 5, while Adena Ishii, the political newcomer, is Berkeley’s next mayor.
—Meanwhile, three races remain extremely too close to call. Two in Fremont, the other in Newark.
—With Wednesday’s update, voter turnout in Alameda County is 71.02 percent.
—For a presidential election, it will be the lowest percentage of voter participation since the 1996 November election, which yielded just 61 percent turnout.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS - DISTRICT 5
—STUNNING COMEBACK—Oakland City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas finished off a surprising electoral victory on Wednesday, defeating Emeryville Councilmember John Bauters for the District 5 seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.
—“One year ago, I answered the call from community-based advocates and Labor leaders to advance a vision of an equitable, prosperous and healthy future for every Alameda County family,” Bas said, somewhat understatedly on Wednesday.
—“Today, it appears that District 5 voters have selected me as their next representative to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.”
✅Nikki Fortunato Bas 71,136 50.15% (+0.11%)
John Bauters 70,721 49.85% (-0.11%)
—Bas had trailed Bauters in every election update until last Friday’s large release of ballots.
—For Bauters, the defeat leaves him out of elected office. His current term on the Emeryville City Council ends next month.
—Bas’ big win, places her District 2 council seat up-for-grabs. In early 2025, the Oakland City Council will have four new members and a new mayor.
BERKELEY MAYOR
—Adena Ishii completed her stunning upset. The first-time candidate became Berkeley’s mayor-elect on Wednesday, edging out more experienced candidates, Councilmember Sophie Hahn and former Councilmember Kate Harrison.
—Ishii ran on a platform to reset the tenor at Berkeley City Hall. The message clearly resonated with Berkeley voters, who elevated Ishii to the most first-place votes. Later, ranked choice votes vaulted her over the 50 percent mark.
✅Adena Ishii 19,960 38.18% (-0.12%) (RCV: 51.06%) (-0.15)
Sophie Hahn 19,623 37.41% (+0.11%) (RCV: 48.94%) (+0.15%)
Kate Harrison 11,841 22.58% (+0.02%)
FREMONT CITY COUNCIL - DISTRICT 6
—Raymond Liu appears headed to victory over incumbent Fremont Councilmember Teresa Cox. Liu extended his narrow lead to 36 votes on Wednesday.
—It’s unclear how many uncured ballots remain in Fremont’s District 6, but it’s not likely enough for Cox to erase the deficit.
—In addition, recounts in Alameda County are paid by the candidate or any member of the public, and can cost more than $20,000 a day.
Raymond Liu 5,629 50.16% (+0.11%)
Teresa Cox 5,593 49.84% (-0.11%)
FREMONT SCHOOL BOARD - AREA 4
—A similar scenario exists in Fremont’s Area 4 school board race. Teenager Rinu Nair increased her lead over Ganesh Balamitran from 21 votes to 31 votes on Wednesday.
Rinu Nair 6,582 50.12% (+0.04)
Ganesh Balamitran 6,551 49.88% (-0.04)
NEWARK CITY COUNCIL (Full-Term, Choose 2)
—The roller coaster contest for the second at-large seat on the Newark City Council produced yet another lead change on Wednesday. Jacinta Arteaga is back in the driver’s seat after regaining a four-vote lead over Julie Del Catancio. It’s the fourth lead-change in the election.
✅Terrence Grindall 7,482 30.47% (-0.38%)
Jacinta Arteaga 6,446 26.20% (+0.03%)
Julie Del Catancio 6,442 26.19% (+0.01%)
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL - DISTRICT 7
—Ken Houston, the self-proclaimed “Son of Oakland,” is now the District 7 representative to the Oakland City Council. Houston maintained his first-place and ranked choice voting lead on Wednesday on the back of support from voters who also backed Marcie Hodge and Merika Goolsby.
✅Ken Houston 4,423 33.83% (-0.10%) (RCV: 52.07%) (-0.08%)
Iris Merriouns 4,127 31.59% (-0.02%) (RCV: 47.93%) (+0.08%)
Marcie Hodge 2,463 18.84% (+0.10%)
Merika Goolsby 2,061 15.76% (+0.01%)
HAYWARD SCHOOL BOARD (Choose 3)
—Incumbent Hayward school boardmembers Peter Bufete and Sara Prada will be joined by Austin Bruckner Carrillo, who won the third at-large seat, following Wednesday’s election update. Bruckner Carrillo came back from as far as fifth place to overtake former Hayward school boardmember Luis Reynoso last week for the third and final school board seat.
✅Peter Bufete 21,389 18.21% (-00.02%)
✅Sara Prada 19,805 16.86% (-0.15%)
✅Austin Bruckner Carrillo 18,739 15.96% (0%)
Luis Reynoso 18,546 15.79% (0%)
RECALL OF SHENG THAO
✅YES 86,450 60.61% (-0.09%)
NO 56,175 39.39% (+0.09%)
RECALL OF PAMELA PRICE
✅YES 374,993 62.91% (-0.22%)
NO 221,051 37.09% (+0.22%)
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—Editor’s note: The newsletter will be on Thanksgiving hiatus for the week of Nov. 25 through Nov. 29. The newsletter returns on Monday, Dec. 2.
CITY NEWS
HAYWARD
—SOUTHBOUND TRAIN—Officials in Fremont, Newark, Union City, and Hayward have expressed opposition to a plan to expand commuter rail services to the South Bay.
—The Environment Impact Review was approved by the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority on Wednesday, a step forward for the $600 million South Bay Connect project.
—The Tri-Cities worry about increased freight trains traveling through the region, while Hayward leaders are upset about the potential loss of its lone Amtrak station.
—On Tuesday night, Hayward Mayor Mark Salínas griped about the lack of community meetings to allow public input to the Capitol Corridor JPA.
—“I have asked them to have a meeting in Hayward and unfortunately it has fallen on deaf ears and again showing you the disrespect to the city of Hayward by the Capitol Corridor group,” Salínas said.
—COUNCIL’S CLERICAL ERROR—Hayward clerical workers represented by SEIU Local 1021 said the city reneged on an agreement to postpone to January any increases in employee contributions to CalPERS.
—Instead, the Hayward City Council approved the increase at the Sept. 17 meeting.
—During negotiations, the union and city officials reached a “clear understanding that the increase would be postponed until January 2025,” with negotiations to begin next month, said Evelyn Olivera, chapter president for the SEIU Local 1021 clerical unit.
—“This is not merely a procedural oversight, it undermines the integrity of our negotiation process and raises serious concerns about the transparency and honesty our communications,” Olivera said. “Such actions are unacceptable and jeopardize the trust that is vital for collaboration between our parties.”
—Hayward Mayor Mark Salínas and Councilmember Francisco Zermeño are the last remaining officials that were part of the illegal wage imposition placed on the city’s SEIU Local 1021 workers in 2014.
ALAMEDA
—MISSING COUNCILMEMBER—Alameda Councilmember Trish Herrera Spencer has yet to emerge in public following release of police body-camera video showed her in a state of extreme intoxication on Oct. 18, just weeks before Election Day.
—Spencer has been a no-show at council meetings for a month. Making matters worse for Spencer, she lost her bid for re-election earlier this month, ending more than decade in public office.
—BUMP IN THE ROAD—A CalTrans plan that would have funded a road diet for Otis Drive in Alameda is unlikely to move forward in the city’s favor.
—Alameda officials had sought alternative plans for Otis Drive, which abuts the popular South Shore Shopping Center.
—But CalTrans officials indicated on Tuesday that seeking alternative plans carries a high risk of delaying the overall project, Alameda City Manager Jennifer Ott said.
—“It does mean that we will have to regroup with Caltrans,” Ott told the City Council on Tuesday night. “It is a bump in the road. No pun intended.”
