The 2025 Oakland mayoral special election was held on April 15, 2025, to elect the next mayor of Oakland, California, following the recall of mayor Sheng Thao in November 2024.
City Council president Nikki Fortunato Bas served as interim mayor until January 6, 2025, when she resigned to take a seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. Fellow city councilor Kevin Jenkins then took over as interim mayor. The filing period for mayoral candidates lasted from December 23, 2024, to January 17, 2025. The winner of this election will complete Thao's current term and will be up for re-election in 2026. The election used ranked-choice voting.
Multiple media and news organizations called the race for Barbara Lee on April 18, three days after the election. While Lee carried the majority of the city’s neighborhoods, Loren Taylor outperformed in the Oakland Hills, which the San Francisco Chronicle described as "Oakland’s whitest, wealthiest and most economically conservative” neighborhoods, and which also had the highest turnout rate in the election.
Candidates Declared President Cristina Grappo, provider and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2016 Barbara Lee, former U.S. Representative from and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2024 Peter Liu, entrepreneur and perennial candidate Mindy Pechenuk, economist and perennial candidate Suz Robinson, vice president of the Bay Area Council Eric Simpson, factory worker Elizabeth Swaney, former finance director for Spinsters of San Francisco and candidate for governor in 2003 Loren Taylor, former city councilor for the 6th district and runner-up for mayor in 2022 Renia Webb, former chief of staff for then-mayor Sheng Thao
Withdrawn Tyron Jordan, former member of the Oakland Library Advisory Commission and candidate for mayor in 2022 (endorsed Lee, remained on ballot)
Declined Kevin Jenkins, interim mayor (endorsed Lee) Janani Ramachandran, city councilor for the 4th district
Endorsements
Results After nine rounds of ranked-choice tabulation, Barbara Lee led Loren Taylor by over 5,000 votes. Taylor conceded the race on Saturday, April 19.
+2025 Oakland mayoral special election, May 2, 2025CandidateRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Round 5Round 6Round 7Round 8Round 9Votes%TransferVotes%TransferVotes%TransferVotes%TransferVotes%TransferVotes%TransferVotes%TransferVotes%TransferVotes%Barbara Lee47,17750.03% +1747,19450.07% +6647,26050.16% +5947,31950.25% +24547,56450.56% +27647,84050.92% +8347,92351.17% +42448,34751.75% +58848,93552.70%Loren Taylor42,39344.95% +4342,43645.02% +3242,46845.07% +6642,53445.17% +9442,62845.32% +26442,89245.65% +36643,25846.19% +29243,55046.61% +37943,92947.30%Tyron Jordan (withdrawn)1,0011.06% +181,0191.08% +231,0421.11% +221,0641.13% +531,1171.19% +461,1631.24% +1241,2871.37% +2451,5321.64% -1,532 EliminatedRenia Webb7960.84% +108060.86% +238290.88% +478760.93% +539290.99% +1061,0351.10% +1451,1801.26% -1,180 EliminatedMindy Pechenuk8340.88% +88420.89% +248660.92% +328980.95% +729701.03% +521,0221.09% -1,022 EliminatedSuz Robinson7550.80% +147690.82% +157840.83% +358190.87% +398580.91% -858 EliminatedEric Simpson5880.62% +55930.63% +146070.64% +516580.70% -658 EliminatedElizabeth Swaney3240.34% +93330.35% +323650.39% -365 EliminatedPeter Liu2530.27% +132660.28% -266 EliminatedCristina Grappo1840.20% -184 Eliminated Total active ballots 94,305 94,258 94,221 94,168 94,066 93,952 93,648 93,429 92,864 Exhausted ballots +45 45 +33 78 +48 126 +99 225 +110 335 +299 634 +214 848 +530 1,378
References
External links Official campaign websites Barbara Lee for Mayor Mindy Pechenuk for Mayor Suz Robinson for Mayor Elizabeth Swaney Loren Taylor for Mayor Renia Webb for Mayor