Councilman Taylor has early lead in Oakland race for mayor
OAKLAND (KPIX) - It was still too early to call Oakland's mayoral race Tuesday night, where a crowded field of 10 candidates were vying to succeed Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who is leaving office.
Councilman Loren Taylor was leading the pack in early returns.
"Tonight, I am grateful, I am humble, I am hopeful," said Councilman Taylor at his campaign watch party. "The numbers are rolling in as we anticipated, and I expect to see them continue."
As of midnight, Taylor had 35 percent of the votes.
Down, but not out, that's the mood and the approach at Oakland mayoral candidate and Councilwoman Sheng Thao's election watch party Tuesday night. Thao said she is optimistic. She said there are still many votes left to count and it's too early to be worried.
As of late Tuesday evening, Thao was down by about 6 percentage points to front runner Taylor. Councilmember Ignacio DeLaFuente was trailiing at 13 percent.
"I'm going to be up with butterflies in my stomach just to see the results come in. Again, we ran a great campaign, and I am very optimistic about the results," said Thao.
With rank choice voting, it could a few more days before Oakland can find out who the new mayor will be.
Da Lin contributed to this report.