Sheng Thao leads Loren Taylor in latest vote count for Oakland mayor
OAKLAND -- It appears likely Sheng Thao will be the next mayor of Oakland.
Thao led Loren Taylor by 680 votes in the latest ranked-choice-voting numbers released by the Alameda County elections office Friday night.
The registrar of voters, Tim Dupuis, said there aren't many ballots left to count. Dupuis said there are about 2,700 vote-by-mail ballots with signature issues across all of Alameda County which have not been tallied but he did not release a number specific to the city of Oakland.
Loren Taylor has not conceded. In a tweet Saturday morning, he wrote, "It is my understanding there are still thousands of ballots left to count, as well as hundreds of potentially valid votes that remain unprocessed due to unsigned ballot envelopes or mismatched voter signatures. Given the incredibly close margin based on last night's instant runoff results, I believe it is premature to declare victory or defeat at this time."
It's unclear where the "thousands of ballots" are coming from since the registrar of voters said Friday there are few ballots left.
Thao's campaign representatives said their math shows the number of Oakland ballots with signature issues is around 700. They don't believe there are enough votes for Taylor to change the outcome.
"It's been a long week and a half and we have been humbled to watch the results shift in our favor with each passing day," Thao campaign strategist Noah Finneburgh wrote in a statement to KPIX Friday night. "We thank the Registrar of Voters for working so diligently and we look forward to their official update on how many votes exactly remain to be counted. We are optimistic that our lead will hold and that Sheng Thao will be the next Mayor of Oakland."
Coming into this election, city councilmembers Thao and Taylor were the two front-runners to succeed outgoing mayor Libby Schaaf, who has been termed out.
Thao is the more progressive candidate with support from the local Democratic Party and unions. Taylor is the more moderate Democrat with endorsements from Schaaf, San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo and San Francisco mayor London Breed.
Thao previously said that, if elected, she'll hit the ground running because she has the backing of the city council, which has a progressive majority.
