OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) — Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao posted what sounded like a concession message on social media Friday night, as voters continued to decide on her recall.
In a statement posted on X, Thao said, “Thank you for choosing me to serve as your Mayor. As the first Hmong American woman to become the mayor of a major American City, it has been the honor of my lifetime. I am deeply proud of the progress we created together and I am committed to ensuring we stay on track by supporting a smooth transition. It was my goal to make Oakland safer, cleaner, and more vibrant. And I am proud of what we accomplished together. We brought crime down dramatically across the board with a historic 35 percent reduction in homicides. For the first time in over a decade, Oakland went over a month without a single murder. Our work literally saved lives. We also resolved hundreds of encampments, have over 1,500 units of affordable housing in development this year alone, delivered the largest IT investment in our 9-11 infrastructure in two decades, installed 290 Flock cameras, brought 100,000 happy and spending baseball fans to West Oakland and paved an Oakland record amount of miles. I am deeply proud of the progress we created together and I am committed to ensuring we stay on track by supporting a smooth transition. It isn’t about me. It never has been. It has always been about Oakland. And the changes we have enacted in these two short years will be felt for generations to come.”
Thao was elected in 2022 after a close race against Loren Taylor. She received fewer first-place votes than Taylor but ultimately won through Oakland’s ranked-choice voting system.
In February 2023, she made the controversial decision to fire Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong following a scandal involving an OPD officer’s alleged hit-and-run. Armstrong later sued Thao, asserting he had done nothing wrong.
In June, FBI agents searched Thao’s home and took bags and boxes of potential evidence. Thao has maintained she was not the target of the investigation, but the FBI has not publicly confirmed this.
Among her accomplishments, Thao takes credit for statistics showing a drop in crime in Oakland. She also supported the revitalization of Raimondi Park in West Oakland, paving the way for the Oakland Ballers, an independent league baseball team that started in 2024. However, her tenure is also marked by the departure of the Oakland A’s, the East Bay’s last major professional sports team, which will relocate to Sacramento in 2025.
The recall effort against Thao formally launched in January, led by retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brenda Harbin-Forte, a former member of the Police Commission.
OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) — Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao posted what sounded like a concession message on social media Friday night, as voters continued to decide on her recall. In a statement posted on X, Thao said, “Thank you for choosing me to serve as your Mayor. As the first Hmong American woman to become the […]
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