As a campaign as mayor of Oakland of months and sometimes contentious ended on Tuesday, voters in the special elections chose between two family faces: former representative Barbara Lee, who spent 26 years in Congress representing Oakland and a wide strip of Alameda County, and Loren Taylor, born in Oakland, who spent four years in the city of the city, of $ 1.5 million.
For voters surveyed on Tuesday, the race was reduced to experience in the face of fresh energy.
“I went with Loren because I want to see what new and fresh legs could do,” said Eric Rivera, a 55 -year -old catering chef who voted Tesday in the Public Library of Oakland. “Barbara is great. It’s on a leg for a long time, but I just want to see what new blood does.”
The next mayor of the city faces a massive budget deficit and a diminishing faith in the office, a difficult beginning for a new leader after the steps of retired mayor Sheng Thao, who was accused of withryy after an FBI investigation. Both candidates tried to link the other with Thao during the campaign.
Several voters cited on Tuesday concerns about the lack of persistent housing and the high cost of living, while others cited the crime rates of the city and the perceived sub -financing of the city police department in the middle of the budget crisis of the city.
“We are at a turning point, and we need to change the city’s trajectory,” said Kevin Pete, a program manager. “I have nothing wrong to say about Loren (Taylor), but I think that at this time in Oakland’s history, the best option is Barbara Lee.”
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Oba Tshaka, 85, throws his vote in the Baptist Church Allen Temple during a special election day in Oakland, California, on Tuesday, April 15, 2024. Oakland voters marked their vote for the next mayor of Oakland and the sales tax. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
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Oba Tshaka, 85, throws his vote in the Baptist Church Allen Temple during a special election day in Oakland, California, on Tuesday, April 15, 2024. Oakland voters marked their vote for the next mayor of Oakland and the sales tax. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
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Pete and her husband, Kenneth Boazer, said they voted for Lee on Tuesday because as “champion” for the gay community, specifically pointing out the funds he brought to the Alameda County for the treatment and services of HIV and AIDS. It is assumed that Lee’s commitment to that theme and his resistance to the Iraq war did it uniquely to take Oakland in 2025 and beyond.
But in the Catholic Church of St. Theresa in North Oakland, the 65 -year -old Jo Giessler corporate executive, said Taylor’s work in PWC Consulting“ A global business consulting company made it more prepared to address a budget deficit of $ 129 million that threatens the financing of the city for public services and the application of the law.
“He has the combination of integrity, experience and ability to get Oakland out of his challenges,” Geissler said. “If you want a strong administrator, vote for Loren (Taylor).”
In the corner of International Boulevard and 98th Avenue, Akili Stewart, 62, a case administrator of the non -profit organization of Oakland, black men speak, was revashing votes to Lee of the drivers who stop at the intersection. Stewart said he had the right to vote restored last year after he was imprisoned for 20 years. He said that he has changed much in Oakland since he could vote for the last time, noting that the city has lost its three main sports franchises and that he felt that his former neighborhoods had determined.
“When I left and saw the homeless, you only see that the cost of living is astronomical,” Stewart said. “The biggest difference between Barbara and Loren is that she is political influence. If she were a race, then I would vote for Taylor.”
Few voters had words about the retired mayor, who had been under investigation of the FBI since last November for alleged collusion with the Waste Solution Waste Solution Waste Administration Company based in Oakland. In January, the FBI brought him bribery for allegedly accepting money in exchange for influencing the city’s waste management contracts.
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