Kaplan leads in Alameda County supervisor race

Oakland Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan led the field in the District Three seat for the Alameda County Board of Supervisors — heading to a presumed runoff against Lena Tam and leaving the prospect of an opening for her prominent at-large position on the Oakland City Council.

Kaplan, a progressive who has served as Oakland's atlarge member since 2008, had 39% of the vote, to 30% for Tam, Alameda's former vice mayor and chair of the county's planning board, in results posted as of Wednesday by Alameda County elections officials. If no candidate reaches a vote threshhold of 50%, election rules say the top two go to a runoff contest in November.

Kaplan's election would leave open the powerful atlarge council seat that represents the entire city, enabling Oakland residents to elect someone new to the position. Election of another progressive would maintain the council's progressive majority.

The District Three seat was left open when former Supervisor Wilma Chan was struck and killed by a motorist last year. After Chan's death, her seat was held by her chief of staff, Dave Brown.

Brown could not run to keep the position because he recently moved out of the district.

Kaplan ran against three other candidates for the seat, which represents Alameda, San Leandro, parts of Oakland and some unincorporated parts of the county. In addition to Tam, the candidates included Surlene Grant, San Leandro's former vice mayor and chair of the Alameda County Housing Authority, and David Kakishiba, the executive director of of the East Bay Asian Youth Center.

Kaplan secured a number of endorsements from major labor unions and the Alameda County Democractic Party, as well as council members from Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro and other East Bay cities.

Kaplan has at times sparred with Mayor Libby Schaaf, and previously ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Oakland.

Prior to her term on the City Council, she served as the at-large director on the AC Transit Board of Directors from 2002 to 2008. She was the first openly LGBTQ person elected to the Oakland City Council.

During her time on City Council, Kaplan secured $10 million in the state budget to finance the city's police alternative — the Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland — which involves counselors and paramedics responding to some mental health calls. That program launched this spring.

She was also a key member in selecting a Black developer group to redevelop the Coliseum area.

Kaplan said that as supervisor she would tackle homelessness by looking at county-owned properties to expand housing options.