Politics
New Orleans Rises Decade After Katrina But Gaps Remain
Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005, causing billions of dollars of damage and a death toll in the thousands. (Photo courtesy of Dan Anderson)
REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — As people search for words to describe New Orleans’ recovery a decade after Hurricane Katrina, they sometimes use words verging on the Biblical – an economic and cultural resurrection, a rising from the ashes.
Helped by billions of dollars in recovery money, buoyed by volunteers and driven by the grit of its own citizens, New Orleans has rebounded in ways few thought possible in the decade since Hurricane Katrina. Reforms are evident everywhere, from schools to policing to community engagement and water management, all aimed at buttressing its people against the next monster storm.
But even people who talk about a renaissance speak in the same breath about those didn’t recover. The ‘New’ New Orleans is whiter and more expensive to live in. African-American neighborhoods across the city still struggle, especially the chronically neglected Lower 9th Ward, a bastion of black home ownership before the floodwalls failed. And the murder rate is rising again.
“You’re going to hear a lot of folks say things are so much better, the economy is so improved, and other people are going to say it is so much worse,” said Allison Plyer at the New Orleans-based think tank, The Data Center. “And both those realities are true.”
It was hard to believe New Orleans would come out from under. Polluted water up to 20 feet deep flooded 80 percent of the city. Katrina killed more than 1,500 people from Louisiana, the National Hurricane Center reported a year later. Many of them drowned inside their homes. The city’s hospitals and police were overwhelmed. Survivors felt abandoned. The economy shut down.
Nearly a year later, most of the evacuees were still gone.
It seemed like a death blow for a lovely and romantic city already suffering from crime and racism, poverty and unemployment, corruption and neglect.
New Orleans is a national treasure nearly three centuries old, mixing African-American, French, Spanish and Caribbean traditions to create unique forms of music, food and fun found nowhere else in America. Would that treasure, and the people who made it so, survive and thrive?
Ten years after what seemed like the apocalypse, the question still hangs in the air.
“We’re still standing,” said Jannis Moody, a young African-American woman enjoying one of the city’s many free outdoor concerts, this one featuring the Grammy award-winning Rebirth Brass Band. “What’s clear,” she said, is that the people of New Orleans “are a resilient people.”
Signs of renaissance abound:
— Louis Armstrong Airport, where thousands of refugees slept while trying to get flights out in August 2005, finally surpassed its pre-storm passenger numbers this year.
— The New Orleans metro area has 11 percent more restaurants, according to the Census Bureau, diversifying the city’s distinctive take on Southern cuisine.
— New businesses are opening 64 percent faster than the national average, and sales tax revenue this year has been 29 percent higher than it was pre-Katrina.
— A sleek, modern University Medical Center has replaced the public Charity Hospital, where the emergency room served as a first and last resort for overwhelmingly poor black patients without insurance before it was shuttered after the storm.
— Almost all the city’s schools were taken over by the state and are run as charter schools. High school graduation rates jumped from 56 percent to 73 percent since Katrina, but critics question the progress and say schools no longer serve as important neighborhood social institutions.
— The city has recovered nearly 80 percent of its pre-storm population. Lakeview, where 1960s-era homes flooded to the eaves, is now one of the hottest real estate markets, and along the river, young professionals renovated classic “shotgun” style houses and Creole cottages to make Bywater one of the trendiest neighborhoods.
As many as 40,000 residents arrived after Katrina, Tulane professor Richard Campanella estimates. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were trendsetters, building new housing in the Lower 9th Ward and buying a French Quarter mansion.
The “YURPS” (young urban renewal professionals) decided to stay, followed by more millennials who came during the recession, when New Orleans, by contrast, was flush with recovery and insurance money.
“You had a whole bunch of millennials who were deeply affected by the Katrina incident that they witnessed on TV,” Campanella said, and the city, damaged as it was, seemed like a “cultural beacon,” a “kind of undiscovered bohemia.”
Chris Schultz attracts a growing crowd to his Hack Night get-togethers at Launch Pad, a co-working space he helped found in 2009 to jump-start businesses and foster a sense of community. Each week, techies hover over laptops and debate code while drinking beer from the bar next door, where locally brewed NOLA Blonde is on tap.
None of this existed before the storm, Schultz said: “The vibrancy of the city was nowhere near what it is today. It catalyzed people who stuck around to really care about the city.”
New Orleans native Brooke Boudreaux has been part of this transformation as operating manager of the iconic Circle Food grocery store in the 7th Ward near Treme, which calls itself “the Birthplace of Jazz.”
“The city has changed and ultimately we needed to change,” she said.
Her family-owned business catered almost exclusively to black customers before their store was ruined in the floods. They just reopened last year, and Boudreaux says one of the big changes has been the influx of Hispanics and white people into the neighborhood. Now in addition to New Orleans staples like Camellia red beans, they sell tamales, corn tortillas, organic produce and fancy cheeses.
The business startups, young people riding bikes — they all point to a city on the move. But the wide Industrial Canal cleaves the Lower 9th Ward apart from all this progress, with no pedestrian-friendly bridges linking its residents to the rest of the city. Eighty-year-old Oralee Fields calls it “the wilderness.”
From her front porch, she looks out on a once-friendly residential street now overtaken by tall grass and fast-growing trees. “I’ve been waking up every morning looking at that grass,” Fields said in frustration. “I had nice neighbors. We all grew up together, children walking home together from school.”
People often say that parts of New Orleans look just like they did right after the storm. But that’s not true.
The massive piles of garbage are gone. Mounds of bricks and lumber were trucked away. Homes ruined by toxic mold were razed. What remains is an emptiness.
In the Lower 9th, that feeling is punctuated by a single house here, a cluster there. Brad Pitt’s “Make it Right” houses, community gardens and a brand new $20.5 million community center attest to hard-fought progress. But only one school has reopened in the neighborhood, and very few stores.
Thousands of people haven’t come back, even though many homes had been owned for generations before Katrina, said Darryl Malek-Wiley, a Sierra Club activist working to restore the community.
That prized status perversely worked against these homeowners, because without mortgages to pay, they weren’t required to and often didn’t have flood insurance, he said.
Government reconstruction money was doled out according to pre-Katrina market values that were too low to cover rebuilding. Extended families struggled to make decisions, and so did the city, debating for a time whether to abandon the area as a floodplain. All the uncertainty slowed the Lower 9th’s recovery for years.
New Orleans is still majority black, but the numbers have fallen from roughly 67 percent before the storm to about 60 percent today. African-Americans still suffer unequally from poverty and unemployment. Black households earn half the income of white households, and the city’s black middle and upper class has shrunk.
The worst number: 39 percent of New Orleans children live in poverty, virtually unchanged since before the storm.
“When Katrina hit, you got to see the real New Orleans, people who were trapped at the Superdome and the Convention Center — 99 percent poor, black. We don’t have anyone who seems to know how to fix that problem,” said Wayne Baquet, who owns Lil Dizzy’s Cafe in Treme.
The storm also made New Orleans more expensive — rents have skyrocketed by 43 percent. Cheap rentals were largely destroyed by the floods. The city demolished public housing projects where thousands had lived, replacing them with updated but lower-density homes. Thousands of families remain on a waiting list for subsidized housing. Many workers face longer commutes.
“The quality of the housing is definitely not worth the price that they’re charging now,” said Adrian Brown, a chef in the French Quarter. He gave up on walking to his job at an upscale Italian restaurant, and moved to the suburbs. “I remember a few years ago, you know, maybe a two-bedroom would be like $600. Now everything is like $1,100, $1,200 in these horrible neighborhoods.”
Blighted houses with boarded-up windows are getting bamboo floors and granite countertops around the St. Roch Market, where fishmongers once hawked their catches. The market just reopened as a gleaming, white-columned food hall bustling with bigger-spenders who sample key lime pie, charcuterie and summer kale salad.
“One time, you couldn’t even walk around here. … Used to be a lot of shooting, drugs, all kinds of crazy stuff,” said Troy Boudreaux, a lifetime resident of the neighborhood. He likes a lot of the changes, but says a lot of longtime residents avoid the market. “Black people been in this area for years, they ain’t going down there. They thinking it’s too much.”
Ten years after Katrina, New Orleans remains a work in progress, aiming to reverse historic racial and economic injustices. The city has capitalized on “the power and the spirit of the comeback” since Katrina, said Michael Hecht of Greater New Orleans Inc., an economic development agency.
But the massive infusion of government money and philanthropy has mostly come and gone. “In some ways, I think the next 10 years are going to be even harder than the first 10 years,” he said.
Scars remain. The tombs on Canal Street still hold bodies that went unidentified and unclaimed after the storm. Some people are still on edge, packing their bags when big storms roll in.
But Torrie Jakes, who enjoyed the “Rebirth” concert with her friend Jannis Moody, described a new commitment to her iconic city. She spoke on a lush summer evening, as kids played, families swayed, a vendor sold chicken burgers with collard greens and the mighty Mississippi lapped at the levee behind them.
“You’re not going to recover from the impact of Katrina and be the same. We’re different and I think it’s unfair to ask if we’re better. I think we’re just different,” she said. “Do I mourn the loss of that New Orleans? Yes, but do I like the new parts of New Orleans? Yes, I do.”
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Black History
COMMENTARY: We’ve Got Some Difficult Days Ahead
GARY CRUSADER — The present administration and those driving a malicious agenda of anti-human policies driven by greed will likely ratchet up the rhetoric of ruin against safety-net programs. These are the very programs that support the people who actually do the living and dying in this country.
On April 3, 1968, at Mason Temple in Memphis, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” sermon.
As he prepared to close, he told the overflowing crowd: “We’ve got some difficult days ahead.”
Those words ring just as true today as they did nearly six decades ago. We, too, have some difficult days ahead.
By the time this article hits the newsstands (I’m dating myself), the midterm elections will be over. Regardless of the outcome, the fight for justice and humanity will continue with full force.
We’ve got some difficult days ahead.
The present administration and those driving a malicious agenda of anti-human policies driven by greed will likely ratchet up the rhetoric of ruin against safety-net programs. These are the very programs that support the people who actually do the living and dying in this country.
We’ve got some difficult days ahead.
Following the midterms, people who believe in the sacredness of humanity must turn their attention to holding elected officials accountable. Senators and representatives promised to protect the people’s agenda: health care for all, quality education for all, and ensuring billionaires pay their fair share of taxes to fund programs for “the least of these.”
If sober, principled leaders are not elected, and the hounds of hell break through the gates of Congress, then those who believe that every person has inherent dignity, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, or economic status, will have to redouble their efforts. We must resist the fanatical intent of those who believe one race is superior to others.
We’ve got some difficult days ahead.
Churches must stand in the tradition of the prophet Amos. They must declare to wannabe kings and sycophants who trade human principles for profit that God says: “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
Black churches in particular must make a Sankofa move, reaching back to reclaim the lessons of ancestors who waged heroic battles against white supremacy and settler colonialism, forcing this country to make drastic changes for the better.
We’ve got some difficult days ahead.
Black churches and people of goodwill must reclaim the narrative. We must prevent the masses, often captivated by social media talking heads who lack the bandwidth for deep theology, ideology, or political literacy, from falling under the influence of rampant ignorance online.
We’ve got some difficult days ahead.
Those who have always wondered what they would have done during the Civil Rights Movement will soon confront a hard truth: what they are doing right now is exactly what they would have done back then. For many, that means doing nothing but talking. Others will realize they are the kind of people Harriet Tubman would have left behind, because they did nothing but get in the way.
We must answer the question Dr. King posed in the title of his final book: Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?
We’ve got some difficult days ahead.
That sentiment reflects the words Jesus left with His disciples, hours before He was executed by the Roman Empire on a cross. In John 16:33, Jesus told them: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Yes, we have difficult days ahead, but we have truth on our side. We have justice on our side. We have our ancestors on our side. We have history on our side.
And for those of us who follow that barefoot preacher from the northeast African region of biblical Palestine, Jesus of Nazareth, we know that victory ultimately triumphs over defeat, because resurrection is a living reality.
Be vigilant, be authentic, and stay woke. Uhuru Sasa!
The Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson, Sr. Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ-Gary, 1276 W. 20th Ave. Gary, IN. Contact the church at [email protected] or by phone at 219-944-0500.
Based on reporting by Gary Crusader.
Black Press
Eight Black Women Win Georgia Statewide Offices
COMMUNITY VOICE (KS) — Georgia voters made history on Nov. 3 by electing eight Democratic women to statewide offices, securing seven of the state’s eight major executive positions. Among the victors, Penny Brown Reynolds defeated her Republican opponent to become the first Black woman elected as Georgia’s secretary of state.
Georgia voters elected eight Democratic women to statewide offices Nov. 3, giving women seven of the state’s eight major executive positions and a seat on its utility regulatory commission.
The winners are:
- Keisha Lance Bottoms: Governor
- Penny Brown Reynolds: Secretary of state
- Tanya Miller: Attorney general
- Keisha Sean Waites: Insurance and safety fire commissioner
- Nikki Porcher: Labor commissioner
- Katherine Juhan-Arnold: Agriculture commissioner
- Lydia Powell: State school superintendent
- Shelia Edwards: Public Service Commission, District 5.
Brown Reynolds, a lawyer and former Fulton County judge, defeated Republican Tim Fleming to become the first Black woman elected Georgia secretary of state. She succeeds Republican Brad Raffensperger, who ran unsuccessfully for governor. The office gained national attention after Donald Trump pressured Raffensperger in a January 2021 phone call to “find 11,780 votes” to overturn his Georgia defeat. Raffensperger refused. Brown Reynolds will now serve as the state’s top elections official.
Miller, a state representative and former federal and county prosecutor, defeated Republican Brian Strickland to become Georgia’s first Black female attorney general. Waites, a former Atlanta city councilor and state representative, unseated Republican Insurance Commissioner John King.
The post Eight Black Women Win Georgia Statewide Offices appeared first on The Community Voice.
Based on reporting by Community Voice (KS).
Black History
THE RELIGION CORNER: We Stand on Their Shoulders — the Sacred Duty of the Ballot Box
WASHINGTON INFORMER — As millions of citizens reflect on the results of the recent election, the weight of history and the tension of a divided nation remain prevalent. For Black Americans and marginalized communities, the act of voting is far more than a political calculation; it is a sacred inheritance paid for through the blood and sacrifice of ancestors who refused to accept second-class citizenship.
As this edition of The Washington Informer hits the stands, millions of citizens have cast their ballots, made their voices heard, and begun reflecting on the election’s outcome. The atmosphere this election season has been heavy. We feel the weight of history, the tension of a divided nation, and anxiety about tomorrow. In this issue, I remind Gen Z voters of the past struggles that secured this right.
I voted early, which reminded me that votingisn’t a mere political calculation. For people of faith, it is a profound act of stewardship, a tool for community survival and an expression of our deepest moral values.
For Black Americans, low-income families and marginalized communities, the ballot is a sacred inheritance. The right to vote was not a gift; it was paid for in blood, sacrifice, and the determination of people whorefused toaccept second-class citizenship. We must never forget that for decades, our ancestors faced systemic terror just to register. They were met with violent police dogs, high-pressure fire hoses, mandatory literacy tests designed to make them fail, and the constant threat of white supremacist violence.
Historians estimate that dozens of documented freedom fighters were murdered during the voting rights campaigns of the 1950s and 1960s, with countless other deaths unrecorded or unpunished. Millions more endured brutal beatings and dehumanizing jail cells. The protections we rely on today were forged in the heat of protest, through the 1961 Freedom Rides, the dangerous 1964 Freedom Summer registration drives, and the brutal crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge during the Selma-to-Montgomery march on “Bloody Sunday” in 1965.
Today, we stand on the broad shoulders of giants who put their lives on the line so we could walk into a voting booth with our heads held high.
We remember Fannie Lou Hamer, asharecropper’s daughter who was brutally beaten in a Mississippi jail for her voting rights activism and famously declared that she was “sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
We remember John Lewis, who, as a student leader, had his skull fractured by police batons in Selma and spent his life protecting what he called the most powerful nonviolent tool we have.”
We honor Jimmie Lee Jackson, a 26-year-old church deacon and veteran who was shotand killedby an Alabama state trooper while protecting his family during a peaceful march.
We honor Medgar Evers, the NAACP field secretary who was assassinated in his driveway for his civil rights and voter registration work.
Lastly, we honor Viola Liuzzo, a mother of five who traveled from Detroit to Alabama to shuttle Selma marchers before she was targeted and killed by Ku Klux Klan members.
When we view the ballot box through the lens of history and faith, the narrative shifts from partisan warfare to spiritual responsibility. Voting becomes a tangible way to love our neighbors as ourselves.
The policies shaped by our votes directly affect the vulnerable, the poor, and the stranger. InMicah6:8, we are asked: “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”Notice the action words. We are commanded to do justice. Castinga ballot with the collectivecommunity in mind helps fulfill that requirement. Similarly, Proverbs 29:2teaches, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice.”Righteousness in public policy is about fairness, equity, and protecting human dignity.
No matter what the election results show, our assignment remains unchanged. If your candidate won, your job now is to hold them accountable to justice and mercy. If your candidate lost, your job is to remain resilient, keeping your hands on the plow to protect the vulnerable and speak truth to power. Our ultimate hope does not rest in any political party or elected official.
If you have already voted, I commend you for honoring the ancestors. If you did not cast your ballot,I urge you to reflect on this election not with fear or cynicism, but as a reminder of our ongoing sacred responsibility.
For information on local election results and future voting opportunities, consult your official local election authorities. Continue to engage in the democratic process with a heart centered on love for your community, carry the names of those who died for your right to be there, and let us resolve to bind up our nation’s wounds together.
Please do not think this inhumane treatment is over. Though this column reminds readers of the past, everything is not perfect yet.
According to civil rights groups and a report by the organization JULIAN, which documentedmore than70 cases of suspected modern-daylynchings across seven Southern states between2000 and 2025, systemic violence persists. Furthermore, independent tracking by groups such as Black Lives Matter of Atlanta reportedly recorded a recent uptick between March 2025and August 2026, finding at least22 Blackindividuals dead under suspicious or unusual hanging circumstances across the country.
Each vote helps bring about the necessary change, and that change begins at the ballot box. Make that change!
Lyndia Grant is a speaker/writer living in the D.C. area. Her radio show, “Think on These Things,” airs Fridays at 6 p.m. on 1340 AM (WYCB), a Radio One station. To reach Grant, go to her website, www.lyndiagrant.com, email [email protected] or call 240-602-6295. Follow her on X @LyndiaGrant and on Facebook.
Based on reporting by Washington Informer.
Black History
Keisha Lance Bottoms to Govern State Where Her Great-Great-Grandfather Was Enslaved
ATLANTA DAILY WORLD — Keisha Lance Bottoms has made history as the first Black woman elected governor in the United States, securing her victory in Georgia after previously serving as the mayor of Atlanta. The milestone is deeply personal for Bottoms, as she will now lead the same state where her great-great-grandfather, Sheppard Peek, was once enslaved in Crawfordville.
Georgia Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms is preparing to lead the same state where her great-great-grandfather was enslaved. Sheppard Peek was listed in an 1860 inventory of a white man’s possessions in Crawfordville, Georgia, with an assigned value of $1,400, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC).
On Monday (November 2), just one day before the election, Bottoms returned to Crawfordville, where she spoke with approximately 100 Black voters before visiting the grave of her great-great-grandmother, Betsy Peek. Bottoms knelt at Betsy’s grave and wept, the AJC reported.
“My grandmother would tell me the story of her parents packing them up in a horse and buggy and making their way to Atlanta,” Bottoms told the newspaper. “All of our stories can be told.”
The following day, Bottoms made history becoming the first Black woman elected governor in the United States. Her victory also made her Georgia’s first Black governor and its first female governor.
Before entering the gubernatorial race, Bottoms served as Atlanta’s mayor from 2018 to 2022 and worked as a senior adviser in former President Joe Biden’s administration.
She secured the Democratic nomination in May after receiving more than 50% of the primary vote, BIN previously reported.
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The post Keisha Lance Bottoms To Govern State Where Her Great-Great-Grandfather Was Enslaved appeared first on Atlanta Daily World.
Based on reporting by Atlanta Daily World.
Black History
A Command Through the Culture
SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY – SOUTHERNDIGEST — Southern University and A&M College recently held its annual Second Line to the Polls event, transforming a historic Louisiana cultural tradition into a powerful mobilization effort. On Tuesday, Oct. 27, busloads of students traveled from the Baton Rouge campus to the Louisiana Art & Science Museum, where they were met with a high-energy atmosphere of unity and school spirit.
The moment you become a student at Southern University and A&M College, you step through the doors of endless possibilities, equipped with the power to write your own chapter in history. Every person is born with the mental, physical and vocal ability to walk the paths they choose. Yet as a Jaguar, you are called to do more than follow a path. You are empowered to create one. Jaguars have the ability to break new ground and build what is needed, for change, for dreams, for legacy and for the culture.
On Tuesday, Oct. 27., Southern University and A&M College hosted its annual Second Line to the Polls event, encouraging students not only to vote, but also to educate and be educated. As busloads of students traveled from campus to the Louisiana Art & Science Museum in downtown Baton Rouge, the mission became crystal clear, and the blue and gold spirit shined even brighter.
Southern University’s Student Government Association, the Human Jukebox, the NAACP, Collegiate 100, Omega Tau Pi, Alpha Phi Alpha, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi, Phi Beta Sigma and Sigma Gamma Rho came together in solidarity, leading the way as students marched from the museum to Baton Rouge City Hall to exercise their right to vote in true South Louisiana fashion.
Historically, a second line in Louisiana has served as a powerful expression of celebration, unity and community. To witness a second line is to witness resilience, joy, freedom and an electrifying spirit that brings people together through culture. Thanks to the leadership of SGA President Bryman Williams and Jaden York, this year’s event reflected those values and more.
Attorney Vernon Wesley Thomas, a Southern University Law Center graduate and current candidate for judge in Louisiana’s 19th Judicial District Court, reflected on the significance of the event and the student turnout. “ You cut me, I bleed blue and gold. Seeing all the young people carry this energy and this will to come out and vote is amazing. I love seeing the youth like this; I love the unity…The youth is the future.” His remarks proved that this event carried out more than what was visible on the surface. It carried civil respect rooted not only in deep-rooted culture, but also in deep-rooted legacy and love.
Gallery • 5 Photos Rhyanna Burks Actress and producer, Meagan Good, supporting Southern University students and the city of Baton Rouge at the Secondline to the Polls event hosted by Jaden York, Southern alum and student organizations at Southern University on Tuesday October 27.
Actress Meagan Good Majors came to support the event out of pure love and a pure heart for the youthful drive and determination shown by Southern University students.
The Second Line to the Polls shined harmony through freedom, painted a picture of power and showcased the elegance of the youthful heart. Southern University used culture to call and command. Our culture is our color, our footsteps in history and our freedom brought to life.
Our vote is our voice, our future, our story and our rights. Southern University lit fire of them both, strengthening our reality, our identity, our legacy and our history.
Go Vote, Jags!
Based on reporting by Southern University – SouthernDIGEST.
Black Press
As Progressive Democrats Celebrate ‘Blue Tsunami,’ Oakland Counts Victories
As national Democrats celebrate a significant shift in the midterm elections, local leaders in Oakland are tracking early results from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters. While Mayor Barbara Lee and several City Council incumbents have secured decisive victories, attention remains fixed on high-stakes school board contests. Progressive candidates currently face strong challenges from opponents backed by corporate funding and local political organizations. With many ballots still uncounted, the final composition of the board and several regional transit measures remain in the balance. Read more.
Concerns remain over school board races as ‘moderates’ lead progressives
The Alameda County Registrar of Voters has released the first round of election results, though many ballots remain uncounted and results are still incomplete.
Nationally, Democrats, liberals and progressives celebrated Tuesday evening as President Donald Trump was dealt a devastating blow in the midterm election. The Republican Party lost control of the Senate and the House as “Maga” candidates were swept away not just by a ‘blue wave,’ but a ‘blue tsunami.’
In Oakland, incumbent Mayor Barbara Lee, who served two years and ran for a full four-year term, won decisively.
A proposal backed by Lee, Measure EE, also won. The Charter amendment will create a strong mayor system of government while providing the City Council with new checks and balances on mayoral power.
District 2 Councilmember Charlene Wang is leading with 65.62% of the vote. Opponent Nate Adams trails with 34.38%.
District 4 Councilmember Janani Ramachandran, ran unopposed for reelection, receiving 14,029 votes.
District 6 Councilmember Kevin Jenkins bested opponent Nancy Sidebotham and District 2’s Charlene Wang also won reelection.
City Auditor Michael Houston is running unopposed for reelection and won 60,773 votes.
Progressive school board members, Jennifer Brouhard (D2) and Valarie Bachelor (D6), supported by teachers and school activists, face serious challenges from candidates backed by pro-corporate funders and the political organization, Empower Oakland.
Arielle Fleisher leads Brouhard 53.49% to 46.51%.
In District 6 with three contending candidates, Alexandra Williams leads with 38.06% of the vote. Incumbent Bachelor has 36.89%, and Leana Powell is trailing with 25.04%.
In District 4, incumbent Mike Hutchinson is narrowly leading a field of three candidates. He received 40.87% of the vote, while Kathryn Camp has 39.92%, and Sylvia Pfeiffer Williams has 19.21%.
In the races for AC Transit Board, Director Joel Young (Ward 3) leads with 53.11% of the vote, Sarah Syed (Ward 4) is ahead with 78.37% of the vote, and Murphy McCalley (Ward 5) leads with 63.07%.
Regional Transit Measure RTM, which would increase sales taxes in five Bay Area counties to shore up BART and other regional transit, was leading in five counties by a combined 62% of the vote.
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