Lesbian Incumbents Win E. Bay Races

Lesbian incumbents had a good election night in Alameda County, while several other out candidates running in down ballot races faired poorly.

In Oakland lesbian at-large City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan beat back a challenge from Peggy Moore, a well-known lesbian Democratic campaign consultant, and several other challengers to win a third four-year term in office.

And next door in Berkeley, Judy Appel, a lesbian on the city's school board, secured her second four-year term on the oversight body. She was one of three candidates running for two seats on the Berkeley Unified School District board.

According to preliminary returns with all precincts reporting, in Oakland Kaplan garnered 53.25 percent of the vote, meaning ranked choice voting did not come into play. Moore received 19.58 percent.

At her election night party at Everett and Jones Restaurant, Kaplan said she was "gratified to be ahead."

She interpreted the results as a "mandate" to continue her work on issues surrounding police accountability and services for homeless youth, including LGBTs.

"I want to push to change police hiring practices," Kaplan told the Bay Area Reporter .

With voters approving Measure LL to establish a civilian police commission - unofficial returns had it leading 82.12 percent to 17.88 percent - Kaplan said the next step is to focus on the Oakland Police Department's hiring practices.

"We need to look at how and where the police are hiring," she said. "They recruit from out of town, military bases, and sporting events. They're not making an effort to recruit diverse [candidates]."

Kaplan also said a priority for her next term would be "strengthening the local job situation" by relying more on local contractors and local jobs for big projects "so we can all rise together."

At her campaign headquarters Tuesday night, Moore said she thought she ran a very good campaign.

"We enhanced the narrative and started to re-envision what the role of the at-large city council member could be," Moore said. "I hope we can create more to enhance the community energy. We had a great team of people and we're still watching the numbers come in."

Over in Berkeley, Appel easily won re-election, coming in first with 50.96 percent of the vote, according to early returns.

Other Races

But across Alameda County voters rejected other lesbian, gay, and transgender candidates running to oversee the East Bay's park, community college, and transit districts. And gay Berkeley City Councilman Kriss Worthington landed in third place in his city's mayoral race.

In Oakland, a gay man came up short for a school board seat after ranked choice voting results were tabulated.
Berkeley mayoral candidate Jesse Arreguin speaks to supporters Tuesday. Photo: Michael Nugent

In Berkeley, progressive straight ally City Councilman Jesse Arreguin won the mayor's race after ranked choice votes were tabulated. Arreguin was a former aide to Worthington, who teamed up with him to take advantage of the city's ranked-choice voting system. Arreguin won with 51.94 percent after seven rounds while moderate Laurie Capitelli was in second place with 37.18 percent. Worthington came in third with 10.88 percent.

At his campaign party Tuesday night at the Ed Roberts Campus, Arreguin referenced the national mood with Donald Trump winning the presidential race.

"We may be entering dark times nationally, and we need Berkeley to be a beacon of light," he said to loud applause. "When I first ran I was told I had no chance. It looks like we may hold off our opponents and win this thing. I want Berkeley to be a leader again in progressive reforms and social justice."

Marking her fourth loss for a seat on the AC Transit board was Dollene C. Jones, a lesbian who used to drive a bus for the agency and now is a bus driver for St. Mary's College in Moraga. The San Pablo resident had faced an uphill battle to unseat the board's at-large member H. E. Christian "Chris" Peeples.

Based on preliminary returns with 100 percent of precincts reporting, Peeples had 62.60 percent of the vote while Jones garnered 36.67 percent.

Nick Resnick, a transgender man, who with his wife is raising their son in Oakland, fell short in his bid for the open Area 6 seat on the Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees. Berkeley resident Karen Weinstein, a psychologist and longtime Democratic Party official in Alameda County, won the seat, according to unofficial returns, which includes parts of Berkeley and Oakland. Weinstein received 72.91 percent of the vote compared to Resnick's 26.61 percent.

Gay Oakland resident Daniel Chesmore lost his bid for the East Bay Regional Park District board's Ward 4 seat, as former state lawmaker Ellen Corbett easily won the open seat. According to unofficial returns, Corbett, who has wide name recognition, received 55.59 percent of the vote while Chesmore got 27.57 percent.

Meanwhile, Huber Trenado, a gay man who teaches seventh grade humanities at a charter school, was unsuccessful for the District 5 seat on the Oakland Unified School District board. According to unofficial returns, he was in second place with 35.64 percent of the vote. Rosie Torres was the winner, receiving 52.68 percent of the vote.

Michael Nugent contributed to this report.