When I went to vote on 52nd and West last night, at the Church of the Good Sheperd, the polling place was crammed with people.  I asked the poll worker, an older lady, "How's it been today?"  "Busy," she said, and I left feeling like I was in a city where so many people were choosing to exercise their voting power - the same voting power that brought out a Latino vote that was a decisive factor in re-electing Obama.

In Oakland, we saw a similar decisive upset, when Rebecca Kaplan, incumbent Councilmember at large, soundly defeated long time Council member Ignacio De La Fuente, who has had a government role for almost 20 years.  Kaplan got 61% of the votes in ranked-choice voting tabulations.

Results are not all fully tabulated, but Alameda County election results show that Councilmember Larry Reid won re-election in East Oakland's District 7 with 59% of the vote, and that Dan Kalb won in District 1 with 52% of the vote. Noel Gallo won the Council seat for the Fruitvale, District 5. 
 In District 3, Lynette McElhaney is ahead - and the probable winner - with 54 percent of the counted votes.

One of the big surprises of the election was Barbara Parker's big win over former Councilmember Jane Brunner to become Oakland's second elected city attorney. Parker was leading Wednesday morning with 68 percent of counted votes.

One of the surprises of the election, of course, was seeing how few votes some of the biggest--and nastiest--voices got.  Oaklanders didn not fall for inuendo, puffery and mud-slinging this time around, and those who used the most dirty tricks were called out and scolded, for the most part.

It's also exciting to see that we will have a new City Council, with three new elected members--more than at any time in the past 16 years! And a City Attorney who won her post and can move forward with confidence.

OL will be sharing more info on the county and state propositions and what they mean to you--for noe, we're so glad this is over!