Voters in crime-ridden Oakland, California, elected former U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat, as the city’s next mayor.
Oakland held a special election on Tuesday after former Mayor Sheng Thao (D) was recalled by her constituents over the city’s rising crime rates, which prompted many businesses to flee the area.
‘I’ve never uttered “defund the police.”‘
The FBI raided Thao’s home in June, and she was later indicted in January on bribery, conspiracy, and mail and wire fraud charges.
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price (D) was also recalled.
The successful recall efforts appeared to indicate that Oakland residents had had enough of progressive politicians’ soft-on-crime approach.
Seneca Scott, the founder of Neighbors Together Oakland, said the recalls signaled that the “phony ‘progressive’ movement is officially dead.”
However, last week, Oakland residents voted to replace Thao with Lee, a Democratic candidate who had opposed the recall effort and previously expressed support for defunding the police.
In June 2020, Lee told Politico that she was “really proud of what Minneapolis unanimously decided” after the city pulled funding from the police. Yet, Lee has insisted that she never supported the defunding movement.
“I’ve never uttered ‘defund the police,’” she told KRON-TV in January. “I never was there. Some were, some weren’t. But that’s okay. I wasn’t. Some said it was only progressives who were, doing the right thing for police reform. And believe you me, I’ve been out there on police accountability and police reform. That’s me. But, believe you me, I understand the need for public safety for everyone.”
Lee’s challenger, former City Council member Loren Taylor (D), who supported tougher police measures, held the initial lead in the mayoral race. However, Lee ultimately secured a five-point victory in the ranked-choice election.
Despite her previous comments indicating her support for yanking funding from law enforcement, Lee ran on a public safety platform in the special election.
Her “first 100 days” plan stated that she intends to address the city’s homelessness crisis and “bring together Police Department leadership and representatives from all business corridors to coordinate and improve public safety strategies.”
She also stated she would appoint a task force “to modernize Oakland’s Charter and strengthen government accountability.”
Scott referred to Lee as “Thao 2.0” and attributed her election success to her “tremendous name recognition.” He expressed doubt that she would keep her campaign promises.
“I have no confidence ‘progressives’ will actually follow thru, they just pandered as usual and will continue passing destructive anti-commerce policies,” Scott wrote in a post on X.
Lee stated on Saturday, “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,” she continued. “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.”
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