City Government

New Poll of Voters Shows Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan Leading in Mayor’s Race

Mayor Libby Schaaf rated unfavorably by 54% of voters, while only 37% were favorable

Published

5 years ago

October 29, 2021

Isabelle Price

Stock image of a yellow polling places sign

A new professionally conducted poll of local voters indicates that more than a year before the November 2022 election, Oakland residents are deeply unhappy with the direction their city is going. Many voters are already backing City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, who significantly leads in a field of 10 potential mayoral candidates, the only one with double-digit first-place votes.

Kaplan received 14% of first place votes and adding in those who gave her their second-choice votes, 20% of the voters want Kaplan as mayor, according to the poll conducted on October 16-18.

Councilmember Loren Taylor came in second in the poll with 9% of first-choice votes and 2% of second-choice votes – for a total of 11% of the vote.

Former City Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente came in third with 7% of first- and second-place votes, while Councilmember Sheng Thao came in fourth, with a total of 6% of first- and second-place votes.

None of the other candidates reached more than 4% of total first- and second-choice votes, including Councilmember Treva Reid, Port Commissioner Ces Butner, small business owner Derreck Johnson, youth development consultant Greg Hodge, community advocate Ken Houston and Oakland developer Phil Tagami.

“This is a base line poll, and most voters are undecided, (but) they have strong thoughts about homelessness, crime, housing affordability and what to do about crime. They also had strong thoughts about the mayor,” said Gregory McConnell, president and CEO of the Jobs and Housing Coalition, which commissioned the poll and released the results to the media.

The poll was conducted by David Binder Research, with a sample size of 400, with a +/- 4.9% margin of error.

While most voters (62%) are undecided about who they will vote for so far from Election Day, they do have strong feelings about the major issues facing the city and have negative opinions about the leadership of outgoing Mayor Schaaf, who is in her second term and cannot run again.

Of all the issues facing the city and its residents, three stood out by far: Homelessness/panhandling with 49%; Crime/Public Safety with 47% and Affordable Housing/Cost of Rents with 23% voters. Illegal/dumping/Trash in streets came in fourth with 9%.

Nineteen other issues, including jobs, police brutality, gentrification, and government corruption, were chosen as a “major issue” by single digit percentages of voters.

Voters were unenthusiastic about the Schaaf’s job performance. Giving her a favorable rating were 37% of voters, while 54% gave her an unfavorable rating. Further, in a direct question – “Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the job Libby Schaaf is doing as mayor?” – nearly 60% of voters disapproved or strongly disapproved of her performance.

The unfavorable rating for the Oakland City Council is also high.

Asked if they would vote to re-elect Schaaf if she could legally run again, only 25% said they would reelect her, while 58% said they would “replace” her.

Further, in a question about whether voters would be more likely to vote for or against a candidate endorsed by Schaaf, 26% they would be more likely to vote for a candidate endorsed by her and 35% would be “less likely” or “much less likely” to support that candidate.

By comparison, Kaplan’s favorability rating was 41% favorable and 35% unfavorable.

Another question posed a list of priorities that the next mayor might embrace, and voters were asked to indicate whether championing these issues would make the voters more likely or less likely to vote for that candidate.

Reducing homelessness received the highest rating with 93% saying more likely, while 82% said they would more likely support a candidate who makes housing more affordable, and 59% they want a mayor who protects industrial jobs.

The demographics of the people polled were: 11% Latino, 35% white, 34% Black and 11% Asian. Ages were; 24% under 35; 20% ranging from 35-44; 16% ranging from 45-54; 16% in the 55-64 range; and 25% over 65.

The Oakland Post’s coverage of local news in Alameda County is supported by the Ethnic Media Sustainability Initiative, a program created by California Black Media and Ethnic Media Services to support community newspapers across California.

Isabelle Price

Posts by Isabelle Price

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Oakland Post: Week of July 15 – 21, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 15 – 21, 2026

Published

4 days ago

July 18, 2026

Oakland Post

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From Disparity Study to Solutions: Oakland Coalition and Mayor Barbara Lee Renew Commitment to Reform City Contracting

She committed to ensuring the coalition has direct access to City leadership by designating Assistant Deputy City Administrator Chuck Baker the primary liaison. Working alongside Deputy City Administrator Sofia Navarro, DWES Director Emylene Aspilla, Race and Equity Director Darlene Flynn, and other City departments, the coalition will continue advancing these priorities while maintaining regular communication with City leadership.

Published

1 week ago

July 15, 2026

Oakland Post

Present at the recent meeting on implementing recommendations on Oakland’s Disparity Study on city work contracts were (first row, l. to r.): Chuck Baker, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee and Darlene Flynn. Second row, l. to r.) Samuel Adams, Erica Astrella, Chadwick Spell, Cathy Adams, Stanley Cooper, Maria Wagner, Len Turner, Derek Barnes, Paul Cobb. Photo courtesy of Oakland Mayor’s Office.

Special to The Post

On June 30, a coalition of minority business leaders, contractors and others met with Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee to discuss the City’s commitment to implement recommendations outlined in Oakland’s Disparity Study and eliminate barriers that have historically prevented Black and minority-owned businesses from fully participating in public contracting opportunities.

Representatives of the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce (OAACC), National Association of Minority Contractors Northern California (NAMC NorCal), Construction Resource Center (CRC), and the East Bay Rental Housing Association (EBRHA) said the meeting represented an important milestone in a process that has been underway for several months.

On April 21, the Oakland City Council’s Life Enrichment Committee received a progress report from the Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES), where Director Emylene Aspilla presented the coalition’s working document and outlined a collaborative implementation plan between the coalition and the City. That report established 30-, 60-, and 90-day objectives focused on five key priorities:

Reforming Local and Small Local Business Enterprise (L/SLBE) waiver practices
Strengthening prompt payment compliance
Improving procurement forecasting and transparency
Expanding contractor capacity building and business development
Increasing oversight, accountability, and public reporting

A series of working sessions was scheduled between coalition representatives, DWES, and the City Administrator’s Office to begin implementing those priorities but were temporarily delayed by the resignation of former City Administrator Jestin Johnson.

Rather than allowing that momentum to stall, OAACC President and CEO Cathy Adams requested a meeting with Lee to gain clarity on the City’s direction and reaffirm its commitment to implementing the recommendations contained within the Disparity Study.

Coalition leaders described the meeting as productive, candid, collaborative, and encouraging.

During the meeting, Lee spoke not only from her role as mayor but also from her experience as an 8(a) contractor and business owner, sharing that she understands firsthand what it takes to build and grow a successful company, employ a substantial workforce, compete for public work, and navigate the complexities of municipal contracting.

Mayor Lee also expressed her commitment to personally participate in future working meetings with the coalition.

“This meeting represents a renewed commitment to partnership,” said Adams. “Mayor Lee listened, engaged, and demonstrated that she wants to move beyond conversation and into implementation.”

CRC’s Len Turner said the roadmap is already in place. ““The City already has the evidence. What’s been missing is execution. …Now it’s time to deliver results.”

Mario Wagner, president of NAMC NorCal agreed that the next phase must focus on implementation, funding, and accountability.

“The coalition is ready to get to work. …The next step is ensuring these initiatives receive meaningful funding in the upcoming fiscal budget cycle. Just as important, the City must establish transparent reporting mechanisms that keep the public informed through regular progress reports, measurable benchmarks, and accountability.”

Coalition leaders also acknowledged that while City leadership has indicated it is reviewing Local and Small Local Business Enterprise waiver practices, the community continues to seek a formal response regarding existing long-term waivers, including waivers extending 10 and 25 years. The coalition believes those waivers should be comprehensively reviewed and, where appropriate, rolled back as part of the City’s broader contracting reforms.

The coalition is also calling on the City to include meaningful funding in the upcoming fiscal budget cycle to support implementation of the Disparity Study recommendations and establish better methods and mechanisms to keep the public informed through regular progress reports, measurable benchmarks, and transparent accountability.

The coalition’s immediate next step is to schedule a working meeting with Baker, Aspilla, Lee, and the appropriate City staff to review what has already been accomplished under the implementation framework.