The 2010 Oakland mayoral election was held on November 2, 2010, to elect the mayor of Oakland, California, electing Jean Quan to be their mayor. In early August 2010 (prior to the first election using "instant-runoff" voting), incumbent mayor Ron Dellums announced that he would not be seeking reelection to a second term. In November 2010, Oakland also (for the first time) instant-runoff voting to elect its mayor, three city council races and four other local offices, with the elections for the mayor and Oakland council district four requiring multiple rounds of counting. Oakland used instant-runoff voting in the city's remaining elected offices in 2012. IRV was again used in 2014 and 2016, including in the 2014 mayoral election in which incumbent Jean Quan was defeated by Libby Schaaf.
Municipal elections in California are officially non-partisan.
Background
The city of Oakland had passed a measure in November 2006 to adopt instant-runoff voting for 18 city offices, with 69% of those counted in favor of the measure.Offbeat and practical issues taken up around Bay Area, Heather Knight, San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 8, 2006. This 2010 election was the first that Oakland held using instant-runoff voting. In early August 2010, incumbent mayor Ron Dellums announced that he would not be seeking reelection to a second term. This election resulted in the election of Jean Quan.
Candidates Terence Candell, founder and head of Candell's College Preparatory Academy Arnold Fields, real estate broker and small business owner Greg Harland, businessman Marcie Hodge, member of Peralta Community College Board of Trustees since 2004, candidate for Oakland City Council in 2006 Rebecca Kaplan, at-large member of the Oakland City Council since 2009, former at-large member of AC Transit Board (2002–2009) Don MacLeay, metal cutter (Green Party) Don Perata, former 9th district California State Senate member (1998–2008), former President pro tempore of the California State Senate (2004–2008), former 6th district member of the California State Assembly (1996–1998) Jean Quan, District 4 member of the Oakland City Council Joe Tuman, political commentator Larry Lionel "LL" Young Jr., realtor
Results Results summary The following table shows a summary of the instant runoff for the election. The table shows the round in which the candidate was defeated or elected the winner, the votes for the candidate in that round, and what share those votes were of all votes counting for any candidate in that round. There is also a bar graph showing those votes for each candidate and categorized as either first-round votes or votes that were transferred from another candidate.
Vote counts by round The following table shows how votes were counted in a series of rounds of instant runoffs. Each voter could mark which candidates were the voter's first, second, and third choice. Each voter had one vote, but could mark three choices for how that vote can be counted. In each round, the vote is counted for the most preferred candidate that has not yet been eliminated. Then one or more candidates with the fewest votes are eliminated. Votes that counted for an eliminated candidate are transferred to the voter's next most preferred candidate that has not yet been eliminated.
Candidate Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Round 7 Round 8 Round 9 Round 10 Jean Quan 29,266 29,299 29,391 29,514 29,645 30,500 30,884 31,655 35,033 53,897 Don Perata 40,342 40,374 40,455 40,606 40,728 40,814 41,364 42,188 45,465 51,872 Rebecca Kaplan 25,813 25,831 25,890 26,026 26,117 26,496 26,831 27,475 32,719 Joe Tuman 14,347 14,357 14,471 14,552 14,780 14,949 15,202 15,462 Marcie Hodge 2,994 2,999 3,033 3,155 3,200 3,250 3,625 Terence Candell 2,315 2,316 2,386 2,497 2,613 2,680 Don MacLeay 1,630 1,636 1,677 1,719 1,852 Greg Harland 966 968 1,059 1,087 Larry Lionel "LL" Young Jr. 933 939 976 Arnold Fields 733 738 Write-in 268 Continuing votes 119,607 119,457 119,338 119,156 118,935 118,689 117,906 116,780 113,217 105,769 Exhausted ballots 0 149 262 435 376 893 1,655 2,766 6,284 13,667 Over Votes 355 356 362 371 376 380 401 416 461 526 Under Votes 2,306 2,306 2,306 2,306 2,306 2,306 2,306 2,306 2,306 2,306 Total 122,268 122,268 122,268 122,268 122,268 122,268 122,268 122,268 122,268 122,268
Continuing votes are votes that counted for a candidate in that round. Exhausted ballots represent votes that could not be transferred because a less preferred candidate was not marked on the ballot. Voters were allowed to mark only three choices because of voting system limitations. Over votes are votes that could not be counted for a candidate because more than one candidate was marked for a choice that was ready to be counted. Under votes are ballots were left blank or that only marked a choice for a write-in candidate that had not qualified as a write-in candidate.
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