Barbara Lee wins Oakland mayoral race

[SouthBayDem]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Barbara Lee is Oakland’s next mayor.

The former congresswoman took an insurmountable lead over her main opponent Loren Taylor, according to the latest results released Friday.

Lee had more than 52% of the vote to Taylor’s 47%.

Oakland uses ranked-choice voting, which means if a candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, that candidate wins. If not, the last-place candidate is eliminated, and voters who selected that candidate have their votes counted for their next choice — a cycle that repeats until a candidate gets a majority.

Read more: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/barbara-lee-wins-oakland-mayoral-race-20281838.php

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The latest official results show Lee with 50% and Taylor with 45%: https://alamedacountyca.gov/rovresults/257/

[MichMan]

1. Now she can introduce the $50 per hour minimum wage she campaigned on in the US Senate race.

During the the debate, the second between the candidates, Lee was asked to explain how her proposal would be economically sustainable for small businesses as part of a discussion about California’s cost of living. She cited a United Way report, which found that a yearly income of $127,000 was, as she described, “just barely enough” for a family of four to get by in the Bay Area.

“Just do the math — of course we have national minimum wages that we need to raise to a living wage, you’re talking about $20, $25,” Lee said. “Fine, but I have got to be focused on what California needs and what the affordability factor is when we calculate this wage.”

The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. At the state level, California’s minimum wage — $16 an hour — is the second highest in the nation behind Washington state ($16.28). Lee’s proposal for a federal minimum wage of $50 an hour, about seven times the current federal wage, would mean any person working 40 hours a week would earn an income of $104,000 per year before taxes.

https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/oakland-congresswoman-calls-for-50-minimum-wage-18670219.php

[cadoman]

2. that'd definitely make the area affordable for a lot more people

And would set an example for other regions to follow.

[people]

3. This is great news!

[tulipsandroses]

4. Fantastic!! Some good news for a change!!

We need all the good news we can get.

[madville]

5. Good luck with that

Former Oakland area resident here, that place is disgusting and unfixable. The bar for a successful term as mayor there is pretty low though, pretty much don’t get arrested or indicted.