Oakland uses a ranked choice voting system, where voters rank candidates from most to least preferred. In multiple rounds of tallying, the candidate who receives the fewest votes is eliminated, and their supporters’ votes are carried over to their next preferred pick until there is a winner. Taylor initially led Lee in the early stages of the voting after Tuesday’s election, but as candidates were eliminated, Lee took the lead on Friday evening by about 5,000 votes and was declared the winner by multiple outlets, including the San Francisco Chronicle.

Lee herself has not claimed victory as of this writing with the new results, but posted, “Oakland! This evening’s results are encouraging. I decided to run for Mayor knowing that Oakland is a deeply divided City–and I ran to unite our community. We worked hard every day to earn every vote!”

Sixty percent of Oaklanders voted to oust Thao last November. She has since been federally indicted on bribery, corruption, and fraud charges. She was the nation’s first mayor of a major city to be voted out of office midterm in over a decade. Lee was against the recall and pledged to unite the city, while Taylor took a more tear-down approach. 

A win for Taylor would have signaled a pushback against progressive leadership in California. The former Oakland City Council member has called himself a “pragmatic progressive” in the past but has leaned more toward the center on issues.

Political insiders saw Lee as the front-runner in the contest, but in the race’s final weeks, Taylor narrowed the gap, making inroads with voters frustrated by the status quo. 

Lee released a video the week before the election outlining a voting strategy for her supporters. In it, she told viewers to rank her in the top slot, followed by candidates Renia Webb, Suz Robinson, Swaney, and Cristina Grappo in the second through fifth-place spots on their ballots. Taylor, who narrowly lost to Thao in 2022 under the ranked choice voting system, did not. 

Taylor spent several months outraising Lee, tapping into voter frustration, and pitching his vision of a new Oakland. 

“It’s not about whether or not we appreciate her service in Congress,” Taylor said about Lee. “It’s about what we need right now to fix Oakland’s problems — and particularly with the urgency that Oaklanders need.”

Taylor tried repeatedly to tie Lee to Thao while Lee attempted to link Taylor to President Donald Trump.

Lee, 78, came out of retirement to run for mayor after an open letter by a group of self-described “business, labor, community, government, and faith leaders who rarely agree on things” said “extraordinary times” brought them together and implored her to get in the race and keep the city from turning to shambles. 

Oakland’s new mayor will have to hit the ground running. 

The city that has yet to bounce back from the pandemic, is plagued with serious public safety problems, has seen city services slashed due a budget deficit and years of fiscal mismanagement.