The City of Oakland is holding a special election on April 15th, 2025 to elect a Mayor and City Councilmember for District 2, and decide on a Sales Tax measure.
As a 501(c)(3) organization, EBHO does not endorse candidates. But don’t worry — we’ve still got your back when it comes to educational resources! We know how important it is that community members are aware of where candidates stand on all the issues that impact our work in the housing justice movement. With input from EBHO staff and members, we developed a questionnaire for Oakland Mayoral and District 2 candidates. We invited all candidates to participate and have provided their responses below.
There are 3 ways to vote:
- Mail your ballot. Must be postmarked on or before 8:00 pm on Tuesday, April 15th. No postage required.
- Drop your completed ballot in a 24-hour ballot drop box. Find a drop box near you.
- Vote in-person. There are 26 locations in Oakland where you can drop off your ballot or vote early. Visit the Alameda County website to see the locations, addresses, and hours of vote centers in Oakland.
On Election Day, Voting Centers are open from 7 AM to 8 PM. Need to register on Election Day or find your polling place? Find your local polling location, early vote site dates, or ballot drop-off locations.
Table of Contents
Special Election Day 2025: Key Dates
Special Election Day is coming up soon on Tuesday, April 15th! Here are a few reminders and things to expect in the weeks leading up to Election Day:
- Deadline to Register to Vote: Monday, March 31st. Submit online at bit.ly/ebhovote or have your paper registration postmarked via USPS on or before March 31st.
- Keep an eye out for your ballot: starting Monday March 17th. All active Oakland registered voters should receive a vote-by-mail ballot for the April 15th special election around this date.
- Track your ballot: Visit wheresmyballot.sos.ca.gov to check the status of your vote-by-mail ballot after turning it in to ensure your vote gets counted.
- Election Day: Tuesday, April 15th. Hand-delivered ballots must be to the polls or drop box by 8PM. We made it!
Candidate Questionnaires
East Bay Housing Organizations is a 501(c)(3) organization and does not endorse candidates. We create and send questionnaires as an educational opportunity for our membership and broader communities to learn more about the candidates’ stances on affordable housing, homelessness, and tenant protections.
On February 20th, EBHO sent questionnaires to all candidates in the following races: Oakland Mayor and Oakland City Council District 2. All candidates running for the same office were sent the same questions, with a deadline of March 3rd.
Unedited responses have been published below. If no response was received by March 3rd, “Did not submit response” will be used and published.
Candidates are ordered alphabetically by last name.
Oakland Mayor
- President Cristina Grappo
- Tyron C. Jordan – Withdrawn
- Barbara Lee
- Peter Liu – We did not send the questionnaire to Peter Liu due to his history of antisemitism and other hateful comments he has made.
- Mindy Ruth Pechenuk
- Suz Robinson
- Eric Simpson – *Did not submit response
- Elizabeth Swaney
- Loren Manual Taylor
- Renia Janeen Webb – Did not submit response
*We were unable to find contact information for Eric Simpson
Oakland City Council, District 2
- Rev Kenneth Anderson
- Harold Lowe – Did not submit response
- Kanitha Matoury-Nguyen – Did not submit response
- Kara Murray-Badal
- Paula Nelson – *Did not submit response
- Charlene Wang
*We were unable to find contact information for Paula Nelson
Candidate Forums
March 15th: League of Women Voters of Oakland
The League of Women Voters of Oakland is hosting an in-person candidate forum on Saturday, March 15th at 10:30 AM at Oakland City Hall. Candidates in the Mayoral and District 2 races will answer questions posed by a moderator that are both prepared in advance and taken from the audience. The League of Women Voters always invites all eligible candidates in each race to participate. This forum is free and open to the public.
The forum will be televised by KTOP, Oakland’s cable access station, and live streamed on the City’s website. To view the televised forums:
- Tune in to KTOP channel 10 on Xfinity Comcast or channel 99 on AT&T U-verse
- Watch it streaming online at oaklandca.gov/oakmtg
This forum will also be recorded and can be viewed later on the LWVO’s website or YouTube channel.
The Oaklandside
On February 26th, The Oaklandside hosted a forum with seven candidates running for Oakland Mayor in the April 15th special election. Candidates present were Barbara Lee, Mindy Pechenuk, Suz Robinson, Eric Simpson, Elizabeth Swaney, Loren Taylor, and Renia Webb.
Oaklandside reporters Azucena Rasilla, Eli Wolfe, and Roselyn Romero moderated the forum, presenting questions that took inspiration from the more than 500 Oaklanders who submitted a question in advance that they wanted us to ask.
Watch the recording of forum on YouTube.
Greenbelt Alliance, East Bay for Everyone, and Housing Action Coalition
Greenbelt Alliance, Housing Action Coalition, and East Bay for Everyone hosted a forum on February 18th with candidates for Oakland Mayor and Oakland City Council District 2. In attendance were Barbara Lee (Mayor), Loren Taylor (Mayor), Renia Webb (Mayor), Charlene Wang (District 2), Kara Murray-Badal (District 2), and Kanitha Matoury (District 2).
Watch the recording of this forum on YouTube.
Oakland Measure A
Oakland officials have placed a measure on the April special election ballot to increase the city’s sales tax rate by a half-cent (.5%) to reduce the city’s budget deficit.
If approved, the ballot measure will raise sales tax in Oakland from 10.25% to 10.75% and bring in about $20 million a year in revenue.
The League of Women Voters of Oakland released a one-pager document as well as a short video detailing the Pros and Cons of Measure A. You can also read more about the ballot measure in articles by The Oaklandside and the SF Chronicle.