Oakland’s 2022 Mayoral Election is Narrow

As Mayor Libby Schaaf’s tenure ends, Oaklanders celebrate her achievements while ten candidates run for Oakland mayor; there is no front runner. 

Schaaf grew up in the community of Oakland, where she attended the School before transferring to Skyline High School. She then attended Loyola Law School and joined Reed Smith LLP. Her political career began when she became a legislative aide to then-Oakland City Council president Ignacio De La Fuente. 

Schaaf took office as a Democrat in 2015 where she won the election by a 63% margin, and her 2018 re-election by 23% margin. Her tenure as mayor is notably marked by her fight for undocumented immigrant’s rights and affordable housing. 

In February 2016, Schaaf led the “17K/17K Plan” – a Oakland Housing report with recommendations to protect low-income households and produce 17,000 new houses, including 4,760 restricted affordable homes by 2024. 

In February 2018, Schaaf alerted Oakland residents that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was going to have a raid, earning criticism from federal authorities. She responded, stating, “I was sharing information in a way that was legal and was not obstructing justice, and it was an opportunity to ensure that people were aware of their rights.” ICE’s director, Thomas Homan, said the raid failed to arrest their target of 800 people because of Schaaf’s alert. 

As the election on November 8th will mark the end of Schaaf’s tenure, the new mayor is an uncallable race. There are ten candidates: Ignacio De La Fuente, Greg Hodge, Seneca Scott, Loren Taylor, Sheng Thao, Allyssa Victory, Tyron Jordan, Peter Liu, Treva Reid, and John Reimann.

Schaaf endorses Council Member Loren Taylor. Taylor’s goal is to destroy the divide amongst Oaklanders through delivering results rather than rhetoric to build economic prosperity, innovation, and safety.  

The School’s district is being represented by Sheng Thao. She mandated more resources for Oakland’s unhoused community, provided funding for marginalized and underrepresented youth, increased transparency to the budget process, and fought for wildfire prevention policies.

This year’s Oakland mayoral race will be one to watch and will greatly influence the city, but we’ll never forget the lasting impact the previous Mayor has imparted on Oakland.