Oakland Mayor Election Results

Wednesday November 10, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 10, 2010

1st ASIAN AMERICAN & WOMAN

MAYOR of OAKLAND

OAKLAND, CA -- Jean Quan (61), was elected the first woman Mayor of Oakland, California, a city of more than 446,000. When she takes office on January 3, 2011, Quan will be the first Asian American woman Mayor of a major U.S. city. Quan was the first Asian American woman elected to Oakland’s City Council eight years ago. Oakland is the nation’s 41^st largest city.

Known for her hard work, encyclopedia knowledge of city policy and ability to inspire hundreds of volunteers, Quan went head-to-head against former State Senate leader Pro-Tem Don Perata and eight other candidates in the November 2 mayoral election. It was a bit of a cliffhanger -- one candidate outspent the other nine candidates 10:1, exceeding the voluntary campaign spending limits of $379,000, and election results were not immediately known until 9 days after Election Eve because the City was using a new voting procedure called Ranked Choice Voting (RCV).

RCV saved the city money by eliminating the need for a run-off election. RCV gave each voter the opportunity to choose first, second and third-choice candidates. If voters’ first choice candidates did not make it to the top, then their second choice selections would be recalculated by computer until one candidate earned 50% of the vote. This integrates the traditional primary and runoff into one election. When all the ballots were counted and the RCV algorithm was run, Quan beat front-runner Perata.

Jean Quan 50.98% (53,778)

Don Perata 49.02%. (51720)

Link to the Registrar's RCV Election Results

“David has beaten Goliath: we have shown that old-fashioned grassroots organizing and hard, honest campaigning can overcome big money, machine politics,” said Quan.

She noted that more people had voted in this election than in previous Mayoral elections, with a 27% increase according to Fair Vote's analysis of how Ranked Choice Voting worked in Oakland, because this election was held in the general November election when there is higher turnout compared to lower primary turnouts.

Quan garnered more votes than Mayor Ron Dellums in the 2006 primary or former Mayor Jerry Brown in the 1998 primary. Quan earned 53,778 votes, Dellums 42,180 in 2006 and Brown 48,129 in 1998.

The Daughter of Immigrants

Jean Quan's personal history resonates with many residents in a city known as one of the most diverse in the country. Oakland’s history as the terminus of the Transcontinental Railroad, industrial center for ship building during WW II and a bustling port for the growing trade with Pacific Rim Countries has generated a vibrant mix of ethnic culture, arts, music, foods and community.

"My family has lived Oakland for over 100 years. My parents were poor immigrants. My mother was illiterate, and my dad died when I was five. My parents worked in Oakland hotels, restaurants and garment factories. I attended public schools and went to UC Berkeley on a scholarship. As a college student, I was a founder of Asian American Studies at UC Berkeley and helped organize tutoring programs for students in West Oakland and Chinatown. I helped fight redevelopment and the removal of local residents there, too.

"My whole life has been about organizing for social justice, as a student, union organizer, School Board member and City Council member. I am proud of my work to improve local schools, to save music, arts, libraries and parks, to revitalize commercial districts and support crime and violence prevention programs," she said.

A Reputation for Progressive Leadership

Jean Quan jumped into Oakland politics as a parent activist to save music and arts programs in 1989 and has continued to work with concerned residents to make the city's public institutions more effective and responsive. She served on the Oakland Unified School District board for three terms and led campaigns that secured $700 million to make the schools earthquake safe, reduce classroom overcrowding, and restore arts and music to the curriculum.

For the past eight years, she has served as the City Council member for one the most diverse council districts in the City. District 4 encompasses the well-to-do hill communities of Montclair and Crestmont and the working class neighborhoods of Allendale, Brookdale, Dimond, Laurel, Maxwell Park and Melrose. Quan has chaired the city’s Finance Committee for six years, steering Oakland through one of the worse economic recessions in its history.

As a Council Member, Quan is known for her long work hours, high visibility, accessibility and strong community organizing skills. More than 10,000 people receive her e-newsletter every week. As a result of the regular communication and her office's work in the field, District 4 is the most organized of the city’s seven council districts and consistently hosts the most National Night Out, Earth Day and Creek to Bay Day events in Oakland – nearly half the events. In District 4 neighborhoods, she has organized residents to eliminate crime, beautify parks and medians, prepare for emergencies, improve urban life and build community.

Campaign Theme of Taking Back Oakland, Block by Block.

City-wide, Jean Quan's long list of accomplishments includes brokering the compromise community policing and violence prevention program, Measure Y. She has been a leader in seismic retrofitting and green policies, such as Oakland’s compostable food ware ordinance. She co-authored and campaigned for the nation's first Wildfire Prevention District, located in the Oakland hills, and for a successful ballot measure to keep Oakland's fifteen branch libraries open. She has set forth an ambitious program as Oakland's next Mayor.

"We must rebuild trust between our police and the community to fight crime in Oakland. We need to bring good jobs to Oakland. We especially need to support Green jobs programs that help our youth prepare for work in new technologies. We need to support our schools. As a three-term School Board member, I have the experience and passion to become Oakland's true Education Mayor. I plan to recruit 2,000 baby boomers and other volunteers to mentor our most at-risk youth and give them hope. We need to ensure that our government is transparent, ethical and efficient. I plan to be an accessible, hands-on mayor by showing up in every neighborhood -- just as I have over the past eight years in my Council District."

Even before she takes office, Quan has launched a nationwide search for a professional City Administrator to serve as the City's chief operations officer to the Mayor's Chief Executive Officer role. She has asked well-respected former Oakland city manager Henry Gardener, the recently retired Executive Director of the Association of Bay Area Governments, and former Berkeley City Manager Dan Boggan to help recruit an experienced, professional city administrator with strong progressive roots.

"This election -- an election of so many firsts -- opens the door of possibilities and hope to Oakland's young people," she said.

"Come January when I take the oath as Oakland's first woman mayor,” she added, “I'll take office in City Hall eight blocks from where my great-grandfather took refuge in Oakland after the 1906 Earthquake, six blocks from where my mother-in-law and sister worked as garment workers, and four blocks from where my father was a hotel cook. I am grateful and humbled by the trust the voters have placed in me as their new Mayor."