With crime on their minds, Oakland, Alameda County voters recall Thao and Price
Election Night roundup from across Alameda County
ELECTION 2024
RECALLS
—With crime on their minds, Oakland voters recalled Mayor Sheng Thao from office on Tuesday night, while countywide voters did the same with Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.
—It’s a stunning result, not only for Thao and Price, but the progressive movement. Thao and Price were elected just two years ago.
—Support for the historic recalls of Thao and Price are both currently at around 64 percent, according to election returns posted late Tuesday night.
—Oakland will hold a special mayoral election sometime in early 2025, while the Alameda County Board of Supervisors will make an appointment to serve as DA until a special election is held in 2026.
RECALL OF PAMELA PRICE
✅YES 134,256 64.79%
NO 72,977 35.21%
RECALL OF SHENG THAO
✅YES 31,838 65.19%
NO 17,002 34.81%
ALAMEDA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
—Emeryville Councilmember John Bauters leads Oakland Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas in the open Alameda County Board of Supervisors seat in District 5.
—Bauters holds a lead of just under seven points in a campaign centered on crime in Oakland. The early results is a reversal of the March Primary, which Bas topped Bauters by 13 points.
DISTRICT 5
John Bauters 26,005 53.42%
Nikki Fortunato Bas 22,676 46.58%
OAKLAND
—Ranked choice voting appears likely to determine Oakland City Council races in District 3, 7, and the at-large seat. With certainty, Zac Unger will win the District 1 race to succeed long-time Councilmember Dan Kalb.
—Rowena Brown holds a small lead in the 10-candidate Oakland City Council at-large race in first place votes, but ranked choice voting currently has her with a nine-point lead over former Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong after nine rounds of ranked choice voting tabulations. Charlene Wang’s votes are fueling Brown’s rise.
—In District 3, Councilmember Carroll Fife holds a large early lead over Warren Logan that is translating to a big victory after five rounds of ranked choice voting tabulations.
—In District 7, Ken Houston narrowly leads in first-place votes, and is prospering from a good portion of second- and third-place votes. Houston leads Iris Merriouns by nine points after three rounds of ranked choice voting tabulations.
—In the city attorney’s race, Ryan Richardson is likely to have turned away a spirited campaign by Brenda Harbin-Forte, the founder of the Thao recall campaign.
AT-LARGE
Rowena Brown 13,479 28.42% (RCV: 54.58%)
LeRonne Armstrong 13,256 27.95% (RCV: 45.42%)
Charlene Wang 9,786 20.63%
Shawn Danino 2,367 4.99%
Cristina Tostado 2,050 4.32%
Mindy Pechenuk 1,912 4,03%
Kanitha Matoury 1,903 4.01%
Fabian Robinson 1,247 2.63%
Nancy Sidebotham 957 2.02%
Selika Thomas 468 0.99%
DISTRICT 1
✅Zac Unger 7,438 75.31%
Len Raphael 1,584 16.04%
Edward Frank 855 8.66%
DISTRICT 3
Carroll Fife 2,830 44.63% (RCV: 56.78%)
Warren Logan 1,977 31.18% (RCV: 43.22%)
Baba Afolabi 532 8.39%
Michelle Hailey 505 7.96%
Meron Semedar 274 4.32%
Shan Hirsch 223 3.52%
DISTRICT 7
Ken Houston 1,360 33.17% (RCV: 54.66%)
Iris Merriouns 1,201 29.29% (RCV: 45.34%)
Marcie Hodge 785 19.15%
Merika Goolsby 754 18.39%
CITY ATTORNEY
Ryan Richardson 24,439 56.02%
Brenda Harbin-Forte 19,190 43.98%
ALAMEDA
—Alameda Councilmember Trish Herrera Spencer’s re-election may be in doubt. After a devastating police body-camera video of her public intoxication was released last week, Spencer is currently on the outside looking in for one of two at-large seats on the Alameda City Council. Instead, political newcomers Michele Pryor and Greg Boller hold slight leads over Spencer.
ALAMEDA CITY COUNCIL (Choose 2)
Michele Pryor 5,961 24.67%
Greg Boller 5,721 23.68%
Trish Herrera Spencer 5,466 22.63%
Thushan Amarasiriwardena 4,307 17.83%
Steve Slauson 2,704 11.19%
BERKELEY
—Sophie Hahn is fighting off a strong early performance by political newcomer Adena Ishii after ranked choice voting tabulations on Tuesday night. Hahn is benefitting from supporters of former Councilmember Kate Harrison, who is lurking as a potential kingmaker.
—Incumbent Councilmembers Terry Taplin and Ben Bartlett are cruising to re-election on Tuesday night, while Shoshana O’Keefe will win the open District 5 seat. In District 6, Brent Blackaby holds a big lead over East Bay MUD Board Director Andy Katz.
BERKELEY MAYOR
Sophie Hahn 6,915 39.46% (RCV: 52.72%)
Adena Ishii 6,096 34.79% (RCV: 47.28%)
Kate Harrison 4,077 23.27%
Logan Bowie 222 1.27%
Naomi Pete 212 1.21%
DUBLIN
—A tight mayoral race is also brewing in Dublin. Councilmember Sherry Hu is holding a surprisingly small lead over Tom Evans. The emergence of Evans is a blow to Councilmember Jean Josey’s chances for gaining on Hu.
—In the open District 1 race, John Morada leads Razi Hasni by under eight points, as of Tuesday night.
DUBLIN MAYOR
Sherry Hu 3,153 36.71%
Tom Evans 2,809 32.70%
Jean Josey 2,323 27.05%
Shawn Costello 304 3.54%
FREMONT
—Raj Salwan is likely the next mayor of Fremont. In one of the most expensive local races in Alameda County this fall, Salwan has an early 15-point lead over former Fremont Councilmember Vinnie Bacon.
—Councilmember Teresa Keng is heading toward re-election in District 1 on Tuesday night, while Councilmember Teresa Cox is narrowly trailing Raymond Liu in District 6.
—Fremont school boardmember Yajing Zhang holds a large lead for the open District 5 seat, and 18-year-old school board candidate Rinu Nair trails Ganesh Balamitran by five points.
FREMONT MAYOR
Raj Salwan 13,060 46.91%
Vinnie Bacon 8,760 31.46%
Rohan Marfatia 3,294 11.83%
Hiu Ng 2,728 9.80%
FREMONT CITY COUNCIL - DISTRICT 6
Raymond Liu 1,988 50.52%
Teresa Cox 1,947 49.48%
HAYWARD
—A tightly-packed race for four at-large seats has appointed Councilmember Daniel Goldstein at risk on Tuesday. Goldstein is holding on to the fourth seat by 60 votes over Tom Ferreira on Tuesday night.
—Meanwhile, Luis Reynoso’s bid for five offices is only yielding one positive result—the Hayward school board. As of late Tuesday night, Reynoso is currently in second place for one of three at-large school board seats. Reynoso won a seat on the school board in 2020, but was pushed out after also winning a seat on the Chabot-Las Positas Community College Board.
HAYWARD CITY COUNCIL (Choose 4)
Angela Andrews 8,480 18.32%
Ray Bonilla, Jr. 7,596 16.41%
Francisco Zermeño 7,405 16.00%
Daniel Goldstein 6,904 14.92%
Tom Ferreira 6,844 14.79%
Joe Ramos 4,909 10,61%
Tom Wong 4,138 8.94%
HAYWARD SCHOOL BOARD (Choose 3)
Peter Bufete 7,330 17.63%
Luis Reynoso 7,210 17.34%
Sara Prada 6,605 15.88%
Sophia Jauregui 6,2,89 15.12%
Austin Bruckner Carrillo 5,955 14.32%
Calyn Kelley 4,620 11.11%
Tom Wong 3,574 8.59%
PLEASANTON
—Councilmember Jack Balch is on a clear path to defeating incumbent Mayor Karla Brown on Tuesday night. Balch leads Brown by more than nine points in an election in which a half-cent sales tax measure greatly informed Pleasanton voters.
—In District 2, Councilmember Valerie Arkin is also facing an uphill battle against challenger Craig Eicher, who leads the incumbent by more than 15 points. In the open District 4 seat, Matthew Gaidos holds a nearly six-point lead over Vivek Mohan.
—Meanwhile, Measure PP, the city’s first-ever sales tax increase measure, is losing with only 46.40 percent support. Brown supported Measure PP, while Balch did not.
PLEASANTON MAYOR
Jack Balch 6,412 54.56%
Karla Brown 5,340 45.44%
UNION CITY
—Councilmember Gary Singh is leading former Councilmember Emily Duncan by more than eight points on Tuesday night. In the open District 1 seat, Lance Nishihira leads Wendy Huang by 15 points.
UNION CITY MAYOR
Gary Singh 4,688 49.60%
Emily Duncan 3,871 40.95%
Marcus Bourland 893 9.45%
SAN LEANDRO
—The District 2 rubber match between Councilmember Bryan Azevedo and Ed Hernández is in the incumbent’s favor, as of Tuesday night. Azevedo leads Hernández by less than five points. Hernandez won the 2016 race by eight points. Azevedo won the 2020 race also by eight points. In District 6, Dylan Boldt defeated Robert Bulatao for the open seat to succeed termed out Councilmember Pete Ballew.
SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL - DISTRICT 2
Bryan Azevedo 4,557 52.36%
Ed Hernández 4,147 47.64%
STATE LEGISLATURE
—Jesse Arreguin defeated Jovanka Beckles in a Dem-on-Dem rematch in the open 7th State Senate District seat on Tuesday night. In the 9th District, Tim Grayson is heading to victory over Marisol Rubio with an 11-point lead. Rubio, however, is topping Grayson in Alameda County by a scant 133 votes.
—Meanwhile, the big surprise is the tight contest in the 5th State Senate District that includes the Tri-Valley and San Joaquin County. Former Democratic congressman Jerry McNerney leads Republican Jim Shoemaker by a few hundred votes.
7TH DISTRICT
✅Jesse Arreguin (D) 86,726 60.1%
Jovanka Beckles (D) 57,463 39.9%
9TH DISTRICT
Tim Grayson (D) 123,502 55.2%
Marisol Rubio (D) 100,246 44.8%
5TH DISTRICT
Jerry McNerney (D) 91,382 50.4%
Jim Shoemaker (R) 90,791 49.8%
