Cornell Barnard

This morning, Loren Taylor called me to concede the race. While I believe strongly in respecting the democratic voting process and ballots will continue to be counted through Tuesday, the results are clear that the people of Oakland have elected me as your next Mayor. THANK YOU, OAKLAND! I accept your choice with a deep sense of responsibility, humility, and love. Oakland is a deeply divided City, and I answered the call to run, to unite our community—so that I can represent every voter, and we can all work together as One Oakland to solve our most pressing problems. For the past 100 days—and as I have for the past 30 years —I worked hard every day to continue to earn your trust, your respect, and your vote. I couldn’t be more proud of the margin of our collective win and our amazing coalition. Thanks to you, our Faith, Labor and Business Coalition and over 500 Oakland volunteers: - Built a broad coalition of over 800 personal and organizational endorsers - Identified over 10,000 BLEE supporters and put our commitment to Democracy at Work, through our Souls to the Polls and neighborhood-based Get-Out-the-Vote efforts - Organized 71 house parties and neighborhood events - Participated in nearly 30 community forums and debates - Delivered nearly 3,000 yard/window signs and over 150,000 pieces of voter information - Engaged hundreds of youth and young people in the democratic process I will govern with the same leadership I’ve engaged in my entire career: With transparency, integrity and accountability. With unwavering focus on the results, you expect and deserve. With an ability to bring together people who do not always agree, but believe in a better Oakland. I will do the hard work and make the tough decisions, knowing that we will all be doing this together. Finally, Oakland’s elections are based on a ranked choice voting system and there were other candidates in the race who also put their visions forward. I congratulate all who did so, and thank you—the community we serve—for participating in this historic election. While the challenges are many, the opportunities are great. Let’s “Love Life” in Oakland, Mayor-Elect Barbara Lee