Local Election Coverage
Oakland firefighter Zac Unger made a strong showing in early returns Tuesday, with more than three-quarters of the votes for the District 1 City Council seat at 9 p.m. He is running against Len Raphael, an accountant and owner of a bicycle store and auto repair shop, and Edward Frank, a homemaker led early in…
A tax that would fund wildfire prevention in Oakland was winning in early returns Tuesday night, with 70% of the votes. Measure MM would fund efforts in Oakland’s Wildfire Prevention Zone, an area most acutely at risk for wildfire damage, through an annual parcel tax of $99 per single-family home and $65 per multifamily unit…
The Richmond Progressive Alliance has held a majority on the City Council since 2020 and held at least half of the seats for the past 10 years. This year, there were three seats up for election, which has the potential to flip the council. Early returns showed two RPA candidates — incumbent Claudia Jiménez and…
While most of the attention on Election Day will focus on Vice President and East Bay native Kamala Harris’ attempt to make history and become the nation’s first woman president, Oakland North will focus on the races that will change the makeup of the Oakland City Council. Shortly after the polls open at 7 a.m.,…
Candidates seeking to lead the Oakland Unified School District faced a barrage of tough questions one recent evening — an interrogation led by an enthusiastic group of new voters suddenly endowed with political power: 16- and 17-year-old high school students. In a first for California, teens in two Alameda County school districts, Berkeley and…
Kristina Garfinkel is an activist and Santa Rosa resident who said she treasures Sonoma County’s rural, farm-based culture. Still, for the past year, she’s been one of the lead organizers of an initiative that many say could upend farming in Sonoma County. Measure J is on the ballot for residents of Sonoma County and has…
Some say rent control is necessary, while others say it will hurt the economy and stifle housing construction. As Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has repeatedly talked about the high cost of housing on the campaign trail, and residents in the Berkeley neighborhood where she grew up offered mixed views on a California ballot initiative,…
But proponents of the measure say those estimates are overblown, and that measure will protect animals and the environment. “This measure is designed to ban farming in Sonoma County — period.” That is the view of Mark Weber, owner of Sunrise Farms LLC, a major poultry farm in Sonoma County and one of…
One measure is supported by tenants and another by landlords. Only one measure can become law. When Berkeley voters go to the polls Tuesday, they will be confronted with not one but two rent control measures. The measures mirror each other in many respects. Both have provisions for rent relief, and tenants rights.…
Despite claims and counterclaims by politicians, police officials and community groups about the direction of Oakland’s crime rate, one thing is clear: Many Oakland voters say they continue to feel unsafe when they are out shopping, dining at a restaurant, or even strolling around Lake Merritt. On Tuesday, California voters will decide on a new…