Oakland is facing a very unusual political period: within one year, the city will have had four different mayors. How did this happen? The answer lies in a combination of corruption, political inexperience, and the influence of wealthy donors. And who will pay the price? As always, it’s the regular people of Oakland who will suffer.
The Rise and Fall of Sheng Thao
Let’s break it down. Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao made history as the first Hmong (an East Asian indigenous group) to serve as mayor of a major city in the U.S., a milestone celebrated by progressive Democrats who highlighted her ethnic minority status and gender identity. However, Mayor Sheng Thao had very little political experience when she was elected to office, and she quickly become a liability. Thao won the mayoral race in 2022 against Seneca Scott, a right-leaning Black male candidate. While her victory was initially seen as a triumph for representation, it soon became clear that identity politics alone could not address Oakland’s deep-rooted challenges.
Thao’s short stint as Oakland’s mayor was rocked almost immediately by a series of crises: a massive cyberattack that hit the city in February 2023, the controversial sale of the Oakland A’s stadium, budget problems, and constant negative media coverage. Her decision to fire Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong in early 2023 further alienated many in the city’s Black communities. The recall campaign also blamed Thao for what they described as a “public safety crisis.” While Oakland did experience a spike in violence and property crime from 2020 to 2023 (although reasons for that are multi-faceted), public perception is that violence has raged out of control in Oakland, even into 2024, despite last year’s notable drop in homicides and shootings.
But Thao’s troubles did not end there. She, her partner Andre Jones, and city contractors David and Andy Duong have been indicted for conspiracy, bribery, and other charges associated with an alleged “pay-to-play” scheme. The indictment claims that Thao and Jones accepted bribes in exchange for political favors, including extending recycling services contracts with the city and purchasing modular housing units from a company run by the Duongs. These allegations further eroded public trust in her leadership.
The Recall Campaign
However, Thao’s recall was not a grassroots effort – it was bankrolled by wealthy interests. California is one of only 18 states in the United States that allow for the recall of politicians once they have been elected to political office. These campaigns are usually funded by extremely wealthy citizens with political agendas. In Thao’s case, while the recall effort was led by her former opponent – Seneca Scott – it was almost single-handedly funded by one wealthy East Bay resident: Philip Dreyfuss, a hedge fund executive. The organization Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao disclosed that it raised about $573,000, and Dreyfuss was responsible for roughly 80% of this funding.
Dreyfuss is no stranger to funding recalls. In 2023, he helped set up a committee called “Supporters of Recall Pamela Price,” donating nearly $400,000 to help oust Alameda County District Attorney (DA) Pamela Price, who was successfully recalled in 2024. Dreyfuss was also a top donor in the effort to oust San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin in 2022. What do all three of these recalled politicians have in common? They claimed to be operating on a progressive slate, and were targeted by wealthy donors seeking to to use their money and power to overrule election results, and rewrite the political narrative in support of their own agenda.
Once former Mayor Thao was recalled in November 2024, Seneca Scott posted on the social media platform X, “God bless Oakland. We did it.” In another post Scott shared his theories about why Democrats fared poorly in the election, saying “they/them lost the election,” and “not knowing what a woman is lost the election.” Scott’s comments are appalling, but they are also an example of how Democrats’ identity-focused campaigns can backfire. Seneca Scott and Philip Dreyfuss are clearly despicable, but this does not excuse Mayor Sheng Thao from her own errors and mismanagement while serving as Oakland’s mayor.
A Game of Political Musical Chairs
Thao’s recall set off a chaotic chain of events. As head of the city council, Nikki Fortunato Bas became interim mayor of Oakland on December 17, 2024. But in that same November election voters chose to have Bas represent them on the county board of supervisors. So Bas served as mayor for only a short stint before moving onto her new position. On January 6, 2025, newly elected, inexperienced East Oakland District 6 Council member Kevin Jenkins stepped up to the mayoral plate and was sworn in as interim mayor. Let’s count them: that’s three mayors in three months. And now Oakland is building toward a special election to be held on April 15. This latest mayor will serve out the rest of former Mayor Sheng Thao’s term through 2026, after which, regularly scheduled elections will resume. What a confusing mess!
Senior California congresswoman, Barbara Lee, joins 15 other candidates who are campaigning for mayor. Lee’s name is the most well-known of the candidates and she is most likely to win the election. However, a political veteran, a part of the Democratic status quo, is unlikely to serve working people.
All of this to say, the story of these Oakland mayors is not straightforward. We have a failed political candidate, Seneca Scott, who appears to have been vengeful for his loss and led the recall campaign against Thao. We have a wealthy citizen, Philip Dreyfuss, with a political agenda, who is willing to fund the recall campaigns of various so-called progressives in the Bay Area. And we have a newbie politician, Sheng Thao, who appears to have not only been a poor mayor but also a corrupt one.
Oakland’s Budget Crisis: The Real Cost of Political Chaos
While politicians have been playing musical chairs, Oakland has been in the middle of a budget crisis. The city is dealing with a nearly $130 million deficit in its current fiscal year, and has proposed closing fire stations, slashing the police department overtime budget, and laying off some city staff. Two fire stations closed earlier this month for six months, saving close to $5 million. Four more stations could close next month.
So just as Oakland faces a major financial crisis, with budget cuts expected across all public services, Oakland is juggling mayors, wrapped up in political corruption, and not serving its population. Instead of focusing their attention on how these budget cuts might impact their constituents, politicians are engaged in the inevitable frenzy of the political campaign, as Oakland builds toward the special mayoral election of April 15.
Oakland Deserves Better
The story of Oakland’s four mayors in less than a year, is another heartbreaking example of the capitalist system failing to do right by regular people. No matter the political party, once in power, politicians are inevitably corrupted by the system they are sworn in to serve. Let’s stop investing our time, money, and energy into political campaigns that lead to politicians who are unwilling and unable to make change. We need to call on our collective abilities and strength as working people to overthrow their system and build a new political system – one that does not focus its efforts on benefiting the privileged few, but instead works collectively to improve the lives of all. Oakland’s future – and the future of all cities across the country and world – depends on it.
