2025 Oakland Special Election Voter Guide
The 2025 Special Elections are near and we are excited to announce our endorsements for local candidates who align with our values and will help shape the future of our communities. This is our chance to elect progressive leaders who will prioritize affordable housing, public safety, and community reinvestment – issues that are important to all Oaklanders.
Oakland Rising Action continues to endorse leaders who value BIPOC, workers, tenants, immigrants, formerly-incarcerated, and working-class families in Oakland’s flatlands. These candidates have a proven track record of collaborating with the community and a commitment to reimagining how local government can improve conditions for ALL its residents.
Voting is a powerful tool for creating change and protecting our democratic values. We can’t let corporate-backed and selfish billionaires drive our local elections. This is our opportunity to vote for candidates that will advance the solutions that matter the most to the Town.
Stay tuned for our full voter guide coming soon and don’t forget to mark your calendars for Tuesday, April 15th! Use your vote to help us build a future of health, happiness, safety, and opportunity for all.
Endorsements for Candidates
BARBARA LEE
CITY OF OAKLAND, MAYOR
CITY OF OAKLAND, MAYOR
Barbara Lee is a well-known and prominent American politician and social worker, who has served as the U.S. Representative for California's 12th congressional district (Oakland and a majority of Alameda County) since 1998, establishing herself as a leading progressive voice in Congress. Overcoming early challenges of racial segregation and economic hardship, she earned degrees in psychology and social work in the Bay Area and later worked as a social worker and activist with the Black Panther Party's community programs. Her political career began in the California State Assembly and Senate, where she championed for healthcare, education, and affordable housing, before being elected to Congress in 1998. A founding member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Lee has consistently advocated for racial and economic justice, peace, women's rights, and LGBTQ+ rights, earning numerous awards for her leadership. With over 26 years representing the East Bay in congress, her dedication and unwavering commitment to justice and equality is unequivocal.
KARA MURRAY-BADAL
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL, DISTRICT 2
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL, DISTRICT 2
Kara Murray-Badal, an Oakland native and Director of the Housing Venture Lab at Terner Labs, is a passionate advocate for equitable housing and community development, focusing on innovations that promote equity, affordability, and sustainability. With a career spanning the private and non-profit sectors, she has held roles such as Crisis Project Manager at Bayer Healthcare and Deputy Director at The Mosaic Project, a non-profit fostering cross-cultural communication. Kara has also contributed to policy consulting and electoral campaigns, demonstrating her commitment to progressive change. She holds an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School, an MBA from Wharton, and a BA in Psychology from Stanford. Now running for Oakland City Council District 2, Kara brings a strong track record of advocating for safe, affordable housing, vibrant communities, and opportunities for all, making her a powerful voice for working-class Oaklanders.
Oakland Ballot Measures - COMING SOON
Statewide Ballot Measures
Funds $10B for school repairs, modernizations, and safety improvements for public school and community college students, who are disproportionately low-income and BIPOC.
Fund Our Schools and Community Colleges
Endorsements Driven by Grassroots Leaders & Our Values
Oakland Rising Action’s endorsement process is community-led by
- working-class, immigrant, and people of color leaders;
- flatlands voters;
- people born and raised in Oakland; and
- progressive policy experts.
Our Oakland voter guide and endorsement process identifies candidates who most align with our values, vision, and strategy for our city. We then get out the vote in Oakland’s disenfranchised communities through education, mobilization and turnout. Fundamentally, we are shifting power to make Oakland a city that champions equity and centers residents most impacted by systemic racism, poverty, environmental hazards, policing, and mass incarceration.
Oakland Rising Action is a member of the Working Families Party (WFP). WFP is building a multiracial party of working people to transform our state and country. We’re a party that fights for workers over bosses and people over the powerful. We want an America which realizes the promise – unrealized in our history – of freedom and equality for all.
CA WFP has endorsed federal, state, and down-ballot candidates that represent progressive values that are core to transforming California into a state that prioritizes working people and our most vulnerable communities.
Visit WorkingFamilies.org/Candidates to learn more. Interested in becoming a member of WFP? Click here.
Notice to Voters
Ad paid for by Oakland Rising Committee Sponsored by Center for Empowered Politics, FPPC ID# 1332115 570 7th St Suite 3, Oakland, CA 94612
Committee major funding from:
Smart Justice California Action Fund
Quinn Delaney
Progressive ERA PAC
in the amount of $60,000. Total cost of this communication is [____].
This advertisement was not authorized by a candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate or election official. Funding details are available on the Oakland Public Ethics Commission website.