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The2014 Oakland mayoral election was held on November 4, 2014 to elect themayor ofOakland, California. It saw the election ofLibby Schaaf, who unseated incumbent mayorJean Quan. This was the first time since 1990 that an incumbent mayor of Oakland was defeated for reelection.[1]
Municipal elections in California are officially non-partisan. The election was held usinginstant-runoff voting, but Schaaf received a majority of votes in the first round, so no additional rounds were necessary.
Four years prior, Jean Quan had won what was regarded to have been a surprise victory. She won a narrow victory in the tenth, and final possible, round of the instant-runoff vote, despite runner-upDon Perata having led the vote count in all nine previous rounds.[2][3]
Many challengers filed to unseat Quan in 2014, the best-known names being City Council membersRebecca Kaplan andLibby Schaaf; political science professor, former television commentator, and 2010 mayoral candidate Joe Tuman, City Auditor Courtney Ruby; formerPort of Oakland Commissioner Bryan Parker; and civil rights lawyerDan Siegel.[2]
| Candidate | Experience | Announced | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason "Shake" AndersonAKA John Anderson | Former Spokesman forOccupy Oakland Navy veteran | [4] | ||
| Ken Houston | Community organizer | [5] | ||
.jpg) | Rebecca Kaplan | City CouncilmemberAt-Large since 2009 | June 4, 2014 | [6] |
| Saied Karamooz | Businessman | [7] | ||
| Peter Liu | Army veteran | [8] | ||
| Pat McCullough | Electronics technician | [9] | ||
.jpg) | Bryan Parker | Former Port of Oakland Commissioner | [2][9] | |
.jpg) | Jean Quan | Incumbent mayor since 2011 | August 30, 2014 | [2] |
.jpg) | Courtney Ruby | Oakland City Auditor since 2006 | February 26, 2014 | [10][11][12] |
.jpg) | Libby Schaaf | Oakland City Council member since 2011 | December 3, 2013 | [13] |
.jpg) | Dan Siegel | Attorney | January 9, 2014 | [14] |
| Nancy Sidebotham | Tax specialist andperennial candidate | [15] | ||
.jpg) | Joe Tuman | Professor atSan Francisco State University, former television commentator, candidate for mayor in 2010 | July 24, 2013 | [2][9][16] |
| Samuel Washington | Businessman | |||
| Charles R. Williams | Veteran | |||
The following table shows a summary of the instant runoff for the election. The table shows the round in which the candidate was defeated or elected the winner, the votes for the candidate in that round, and what share those votes were of all votes counting for any candidate in that round. There is also a bar graph showing those votes for each candidate and categorized as either first-round votes or votes that were transferred from another candidate.
| Candidate | Maximum round | Maximum votes | Share in maximum round | Maximum votes First round votesTransfer votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libby Schaaf | 16 | 48,806 | 63.20% | |
| Rebecca Kaplan | 16 | 28,421 | 36.80% | |
| Jean Quan (incumbent) | 15 | 20,525 | 23.41% | |
| Dan Siegel | 14 | 17,402 | 18.50% | |
| Joe Tuman | 13 | 14,873 | 15.17% | |
| Bryan Parker | 12 | 8,551 | 8.54% | |
| Courtney Ruby | 11 | 3,364 | 3.34% | |
| John Anderson | 10 | 1,741 | 1.72% | |
| Charles R. Williams | 9 | 1,200 | 1.18% | |
| Ken Houston | 8 | 604 | 0.59% | |
| Peter Liu | 7 | 529 | 0.52% | |
| Eric Wilson | 6 | 430 | 0.42% | |
| Pat McCullough | 5 | 383 | 0.38% | |
| Nancy Sidebotham | 4 | 271 | 0.27% | |
| Saied Karamooz | 3 | 265 | 0.26% | |
| Samuel Washington | 2 | 33 | 0.03% | |
| Write-ins | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | |
The following table shows how votes were counted in a series of rounds of instant runoffs. Each voter could mark which candidates were the voter's first, second, and third choice. Each voter had one vote, but could mark three choices for how that vote can be counted. In each round, the vote is counted for the most preferred candidate that has not yet been eliminated. Then one or more candidates with the fewest votes are eliminated. Votes that counted for an eliminated candidate are transferred to the voter's next most preferred candidate that has not yet been eliminated.
| 2014 Oakland mayoral election vote count by round[17] | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 | Round 8 | Round 9 | Round 10 | Round 11 | Round 12 | Round 13 | Round 14 | Round 15 | Round 16 |
| Libby Schaaf | 30,041 | 30,041 | 30,041 | 30,069 | 30,092 | 30,117 | 30,133 | 30,173 | 30,212 | 30,256 | 30,360 | 31,313 | 33,180 | 39,941 | 43,818 | 48,806 |
| Rebecca Kaplan | 14,693 | 14,693 | 14,697 | 15,827 | 15,846 | 14,804 | 14,869 | 14,902 | 15,021 | 15,185 | 15,379 | 15,699 | 17,023 | 18,662 | 23,341 | 28,421 |
| Jean Quan (incumbent) | 15,808 | 15,808 | 15,811 | 15,827 | 15,846 | 15,872 | 15,906 | 15,982 | 16,026 | 16,138 | 16,217 | 16,415 | 17,156 | 18,049 | 20,525 | |
| Dan Siegel | 13,122 | 13,122 | 13,125 | 13,187 | 13,203 | 13,231 | 13,301 | 13,353 | 13,405 | 13,598 | 14,563 | 14,831 | 15,818 | 17,402 | ||
| Joe Tuman | 12,251 | 12,251 | 12,251 | 12,267 | 12,281 | 12,309 | 12,336 | 12,378 | 12,420 | 12,487 | 12,539 | 13,340 | 14,873 | |||
| Bryan Parker | 7,955 | 7,955 | 7,958 | 7,966 | 7,985 | 8,020 | 8,038 | 8,080 | 8,142 | 8,225 | 8,279 | 8,551 | ||||
| Courtney Ruby | 3,115 | 3,115 | 3,115 | 3,131 | 3,163 | 3,185 | 3,204 | 3,247 | 3,264 | 3,320 | 3,364 | |||||
| John Anderson | 1,550 | 1,550 | 1,551 | 1,576 | 1,579 | 1,602 | 1,617 | 1,623 | 1,650 | 1,741 | ||||||
| Charles R. Williams | 1,052 | 1,052 | 1,053 | 1,056 | 1,066 | 1,099 | 1,145 | 1,172 | 1,200 | |||||||
| Ken Houston | 518 | 518 | 518 | 523 | 536 | 556 | 577 | 604 | ||||||||
| Peter Liu | 464 | 464 | 465 | 479 | 488 | 508 | 529 | |||||||||
| Eric Wilson | 393 | 393 | 393 | 399 | 416 | 430 | ||||||||||
| Pat McCullough | 362 | 362 | 363 | 373 | 383 | |||||||||||
| Nancy Sidebotham | 267 | 267 | 267 | 271 | ||||||||||||
| Saied Karamooz | 264 | 264 | 265 | |||||||||||||
| Samuel Washington | 33 | 33 | ||||||||||||||
| Write-in | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| Continuing votes | 101,888 | 101,888 | 101,873 | 101,842 | 101,796 | 101,733 | 101,655 | 101,514 | 101,340 | 100,950 | 100,701 | 100,149 | 98,050 | 94,054 | 87,684 | 77,227 |
| Exhausted ballots | 0 | 0 | 15 | 46 | 92 | 154 | 226 | 364 | 535 | 915 | 1,163 | 1,705 | 3,770 | 7,723 | 14,041 | 24,405 |
| Over Votes | 794 | 794 | 794 | 794 | 794 | 795 | 801 | 804 | 807 | 817 | 818 | 828 | 862 | 905 | 957 | 1,050 |
| Under Votes | 2,152 | 2,152 | 2,152 | 2,152 | 2,152 | 2,152 | 2,152 | 2,152 | 2,152 | 2,152 | 2,152 | 2,152 | 2,152 | 2,152 | 2,152 | 2,152 |
| Total | 104,834 | 104,834 | 104,834 | 104,834 | 104,834 | 104,834 | 104,834 | 104,834 | 104,834 | 104,834 | 104,834 | 104,834 | 104,834 | 104,834 | 104,834 | 104,834 |
Continuing votes are votes that counted for a candidate in that round. Exhausted ballots represent votes that could not be transferred because a less preferred candidate was not marked on the ballot. Voters were allowed to mark only three choices because of voting system limitations. Over votes are votes that could not be counted for a candidate because more than one candidate was marked for a choice that was ready to be counted. Under votes are ballots that were left blank or that only marked a choice for a write-in candidate that had not qualified as a write-in candidate.
