“ Former Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) was projected to win a special election to become the next mayor of Oakland, according to Decision Desk HQ, in what became a closer-than-expected race amid growing voter dissatisfaction over the direction of the city.
Lee won the nonpartisan ranked-choice election over a field of more than a half dozen candidates, with the most prominent being former City Council member Loren Taylor, who was the runner-up to now-former Mayor Sheng Thao (D) in the 2022 mayoral race and emerged as this election’s dark-horse contender.”