Oakland voters will make two consequential decisions on November 3, 2026: whom to elect mayor and whether to change how the city is governed. The mayoral ballot will include four qualified candidates — Mayor Barbara Lee, public safety advocate Brenda Grisham, educator Mindy Pechenuk and Julius Robinson — and the election will use ranked-choice voting.
The charter reform measure would replace Oakland’s council-administrator government with a “strong mayor” system that includes executive veto authority. Lee personally tie-broke the measure onto the ballot in June, and Hoodline previously reported on the proposal. Voters will also encounter the city’s Measure W “Democracy Dollars” voucher program.
The city’s budget process is another part of the governing backdrop. According to the City of Oakland, the City Council voted to adopt a 2025-2027 biennial budget. The City of Oakland says the council develops alternative budget proposals and adopts the final budget by June 30. According to the City of Oakland, the Oakland City Council voted to adopt the 2025-2027 biennial budget on June 11, 2025. According to the City of Oakland’s Oakland Roadmap to Fiscal Health, the city has a five-year structural budget gap of $130M annually.
Lee’s record and the case for another term
Lee became Oakland’s 52nd mayor on May 20, 2025, after winning an April 2025 special election with 52.7% of the vote in the final ranked-choice round against former City Councilmember Loren Taylor, according to Ballotpedia. That contest followed the historic November 2024 recall of former Mayor Sheng Thao, who was later indicted by federal prosecutors on bribery and conspiracy charges, as Courthouse News Service has reported.
Before becoming mayor, Lee represented East Bay residents in Congress from 1998 to 2025 and stepped down to run for the U.S. Senate in 2024, per Wikipedia. Her administration’s performance will be judged in part through public-safety measures. The Oakland Police Department Staffing Study examines the department’s staffing structure and compares it with benchmarks from comparable cities. According to the Oakland Police Department, first-half 2025 burglary fell 19%, motor vehicle theft fell 45% and larceny fell 17%, while arson rose 9%. According to the City of Oakland’s OPD Data page, the department collects and reports data about crimes, police response times and other police-related events.
Different kinds of support in a four-way race
Lee’s backing is rooted in Oakland’s political institutions. The Oaklandside describes dozens of endorsements listed on her reelection website, including State Sen. Jesse Arreguín, five former Oakland mayors, the Oakland firefighters’ union and SEIU 1021. The coalition reflects Lee’s deep institutional footing in local politics.
Grisham’s campaign instead emphasizes a public-safety and community-prevention agenda. Her website publishes five detailed endorsement letters and highlights preventing gun violence, investing in prevention, strengthening community resources and creating safer neighborhoods. Oakland rapper Kamaiyah wrote one of the letters, saying Grisham chose to turn grief into purpose after losing her child to gun violence.
Pechenuk is running on an “America First” platform and lists three endorsements, including the GOP Union Caucus and former state Senator Mike Morrell. Herb Morgan, another Pechenuk backer, said Oakland “deserves accountability, transparency and real fiscal leadership” and argued that Pechenuk “will clean up city hall.”
Robinson does not appear to have a campaign website or public endorsement list, per the same Oaklandside report. Oakland resident Gene Hazzard wrote a blog post backing Robinson for the November 3 election, providing one of the few public signals of support for that campaign.
Harris’s endorsement connects the local contest to a wider political relationship
Former Vice President Kamala Harris has endorsed Lee’s reelection campaign exactly two months before voters choose a mayor. According to The Oaklandside, Harris said Lee “is delivering for Oakland with urgency, courage and integrity,” and praised her for expanding affordable housing, improving public safety, investing in young people and protecting immigrant communities. Harris also called Lee someone who has “spent her life fighting for people who are often left out and left behind.” Lee said she was deeply honored by Harris's support.
The endorsement follows years of political ties. Lee served as a California co-chair of Harris’s 2020 presidential campaign and later endorsed Harris’s unsuccessful 2024 presidential campaign. Harris spent most of her childhood in Berkeley, later lived in Oakland as a young adult and began her legal career in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office before eventually serving as San Francisco district attorney.
Harris also carried about 75% of the vote in Alameda County in the 2024 presidential election, according to the same report. Lee is seeking reelection after winning last year’s special election.
