As I write this morning, our Mayoral race is still undecided. The “rank choice” system is complicating things. But at this hour (about 7 a.m.), Loren Taylor has a nice lead over second-place Sheng Thao, while our preferred candidate, Seneca Scott, is trailing far behind, in seventh place.
I think we can assume at this point that regardless of the ultimate tally, Seneca will not be the next Mayor of Oakland. I personally believe that Taylor will be. He was always our favorite, after Seneca; in fact, we would have endorsed Taylor had Seneca not run. Loren Tayor is by far the more moderate candidate compared to Thao, by which I mean he’s the sane guy…the adult in the room. When we interviewed candidates earlier this year, Taylor was the only one to say he would accept Police Union money, if offered, for his campaign. I admired that. Loren Taylor is thoughtful and analytical; as Mayor he will push for real solutions to Oakland’s problems, instead of trying to wedge reality into the distorting mold of a leftwing ideology.
In the race for City Council District 2, it looks like our candidate, Harold Lowe, has been defeated, according to the official Alameda County election website. With all precincts reporting, Bas leads Lowe 60% to 40%. This is a decisive victory, but then, Lowe got into the race very late, and Bas had truckloads of slushy union money behind her—for what deals, we don’t know and probably never will.
In her race for Alameda County Supervisor, Rebecca Kaplan was trailing to her opponent, Lena Tam, 45% to Tam’s 55%, according to the Bay Area Reporter. If this holds, it’s good news. Kaplan is, in many respects, the most radical member of the City Council, with Carroll Fife a close second. My hunch is that Kaplan got a lot of votes in the big cities, but the suburbs, which are slightly more conservative, rebelled against her. Kaplan has build a political career on racial and gender issues, but voters are weary of such identity politics. We want solutions to our problems, not personal grievances as expressed by extremists like Kaplan. If she indeed loses, she’s also off the City Council, so we may be able to say “Buh-bye” to Rebecca Kaplan as she re-enters the private sphere and has to get a real job.
It’s a drag we’re going to have to put up with Nikki Bas for a while longer. But until we know the final results for all City Council seats, we don’t know if she’ll still be in the radical majority, or will be hemmed in by a more moderate wing. Taylor’s seat is up for grabs. So is Treva Reid’s. I assume that, if Kaplan loses, she’ll remain on the City Council. We can only hope to sideline Bas and Kaplan reduce them to impotence. So, all in all, a pretty good day for sanity in Oakland and Alameda County. And that’s it for a quick summary. If anything breaks later in the day, I’ll report it here. Let me add that by week’s end I’ll be posting a personal tribute to Seneca Scott, who had the courage to run an uphill battle against the entrenched forces that have driven Oakland into the ground.
Steve Heimoff