Primary Season is Like Buttered Popcorn for Political Junkies
One of the things I love about local primaries is you find out how much wannabe politicians have raised for their campaigns, and who is offering them support through campaign finance and contributions. There's a lot to cover here, and I won't do it all at one go, but for local political junkies, it's hot buttered popcorn at the movies.
This Oakland City Council is going to change significantly in local elections. Five of the eight Council seats are being contested, and three incumbents are stepping down and/or seeking other office.
The upheaval will affect existing alliances on the eight-member Council; the election will produce three new faces for Districts 1, 3 and 5 of the seven district Councilmember seats; Council President Larry Reid is facing two challengers in District 7, and the Councilmember At Large race will affect majority control of Council, possibly create a new Council President, and force people to jockey for position in the 2014 elections, when the incumbent Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and three other District Councilmembers will face re-election.
Title Bout:
District 5's Ignacio De La Fuente v. At-Large Rebecca Kaplan
Image sources: De La Fuente's website, East Bay Express
The Councilmember At Large race pits the incumbent, Rebecca Kaplan, against District 5 Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente, who is stepping down from his district seat to run citywide against Kaplan. He is seen as aiming to run for Council President in 2013 and for mayor in 2014 against incumbent Jean Quan. The new City Council will take office in the first week of January 2013.
This sets the stage for my next few posts - specifically, about who's funding these city council candidates' campaigns? What do they hope to gain from it? And, more importantly, what ramifications will all that have on Oakland city government's (dys)function in the coming few years? Stay tuned, my friends. It's sure to be a fun ride to election day!
