The sprint to November begins

Your fall ballot is set. Election previews for Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Castro Valley, Dublin, Emeryville, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore. Oakland council frontrunner fails to qualify for ballot

ELECTION 2024

80 days to Election Day

—READY! SET! GO!—The election is set in Alameda County and there’s no time to waste. Vote-by-mail ballots will be in your mailbox in just two months.

—Here’s the Top 10 most important and compelling races in the East Bay this fall.

—City previews for races in Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Castro Valley, Dublin, Emeryville, Fremont, Hayward, and Livermore follows below the paywall.

—Look for the rest of the county on Tuesday morning.

THAO/PRICE RECALLS: Alameda County and Oakland will have recalls on the ballot this fall. It’s rare to have one recall on the ballot, let alone two. Even more rare that both are likely to succeed.

ALAMEDA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS – DISTRICT 5: The race to replace retiring Supervisor Keith Carson won’t change the ideological makeup of the board very much, but the results of the recalls and public safety concerns will inform how this race plays out.

7TH STATE SENATE DISTRICT: This was one of the most expensive Legislative races in the state during the March Primary. But one of the biggest beneficiaries failed to make the top two. It’s Jesse Arreguin’s race to lose, but it won’t be easy. His progressive opponent Jovanka Beckles may not have the cash to match Arreguin’s but she has foot soldiers.

BERKELEY MAYOR: There’s been anything but peace and love at the Berkeley City Council over the past year. A current and recently former councilmember top a field of candidates hoping to change the council’s tenor and direction.

OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL: The at-large city council seat could be represented by a former police chief, an unthinkable idea just two years ago. District 7 will have someone not named Reid on the ballot for the first time since 1996, and the District 3 incumbent will be fighting for re-election this fall.

FREMONT MAYOR: Alameda County’s second-largest city will have a new mayor this fall. Like Berkeley, a current and former councilmember top the marquee. With Oakland faltering, this year’s mayoral election could set the city on the path to greater visibility and political power.

DUBLIN MAYOR: The county’s best-run city will also select a new mayor to guide its future growth and prosperity. An intra-council mayoral matchup will test whether the city’s up-and-coming Asian and South Asian American demographic can take the next step in gathering political power in the Tri-Valley.

SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL – DISTRICT 2: It’s a rubber match between two rivals that met in 2016 and again in 2020, and with different results. This time around, public safety will dominate the conversation in San Leandro’s District 2 between Bryan Azevedo and Ed Hernandez. The area has suffered from a steep rise in homicides over the past year.

ALAMEDA CITY COUNCIL: Its progressive majority is either on the line or heading toward an incremental shift to the center? Alameda Councilmember Trish Herrera Spencer, the master of no votes, has the chance to gain a majority and radically shift the city’s politics in a conservative direction.

PLEASANTON MAYOR: The incumbent mayor faces her friendly council rival in a clash of visions for Pleasanton. A ballot measure to increase Pleasanton’s sales tax, the first in its long history, will dominate the conversation, in addition to solutions for cleaning up the PFAS chemical from its water wells.

—411 on the 510—Become an East Bay Insiders subscriber today and get full access to the inside scoop every weekday morning at 6 a.m. It’s what the insiders read.

MORE INSIDE:

• ELECTION 2024: Oakland City Council candidate is contesting city clerk’s decision to disqualify her candidacy.

• Your Ballot, Part 1: The Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Castro Valley, Dublin, Emeryville, Fremont, Hayward, and Livermore ballots.

• Campaign finance data for Aug. 16-18.