Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao was behind in the election to recall her from office based on early returns from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters on Tuesday night.
With a vote of 64.22% in favor of the recall versus 35.78% opposed — with 35,367 votes counted out of the city’s 252,382 register voters — Thao appeared to have a steep climb to victory as of about 8:20 p.m. Tuesday.
“We’re not surprised,” recall spokesman Seneca Scott said. “We knew all along that Sheng Thao would likely be recalled by an overwhelming margin.”
A Thao campaign spokesperson didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The campaign to remove her from office was largely predicated on perceptions of Oakland’s crime rates and the city’s ongoing budget problems.
Recall proponents successfully tapped into Oakland voters’ fears about crime, despite recent data showing a 33% drop in homicides in Oakland, zero homicides in October and an overall crime rate drop by 37% from a year ago, according to the Oakland Police Department.
In her effort to keep her job, Thao’s committee, Oaklanders Defending Democracy, raised $120,381, while her opponents’ committee, Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao, raised $602,483.
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