UPDATE: Alameda’s Candidates Mostly Set for November 5 Election

The November 5 General Election is approaching quickly! Now that the nomination period is mostly complete, we have a better view of the candidates who will be standing for local offices. Candidates for other offices, including at the federal and state level were set by the primary election earlier this year. All current election information, including how to vote and who and what are on the ballot, is available from our regularly updated Election page .

Alameda City Council

There are five candidates vying for two open seats on the City Council . Incumbent Malia Vella reached her term limit and is not eligible to run in this election.

The candidates on Alameda’s ballot this November:

• Thushan Amarasiriwardena – a multimedia journalist and former product manager for AI Large Language Models and Google Assistant at Google. (Editor’s note: We initially incorrectly described the position with Google as project manager.)
• Greg Boller – a Deputy District Attorney in the Alameda County DA’s office who previously served in the same role for Solano, Sutter, and Santa Barbara Counties and is also a Public Health Commissioner for Alameda County.
• Michele Pryor – a special education teacher in the Fremont Unified School District.
• Trish Herrera Spencer – an attorney, the former Mayor and incumbent Councilmember.
• Steven Slauson – an electrical engineer who has previously run for State Assembly, District 18, and US House of Representatives, District 12.

Other candidates who pulled papers but did not qualify for the ballot were:

• Kareem S. Burney – Associate Director of US Regulatory Affairs for Abbott Labs, who have offices on Bay Farm Island. He is also a City Parks Commissioner.
• Ryan LaLonde – an artist who currently serves on the AUSD Governing Board.
• Ralph Walker – a youth track and field coach who started the Don Grant Alameda Point Youth Track club.

As candidates provide more details, we will update our Election page and include links to their campaign websites and other information.

Other local offices

For the AUSD Governing Board, Chair of the Parcel Tax Oversight Committee, PTA board member, and nonprofit CPA, Joyce Boyd, has qualified for the ballot, as well as current board members Heather Little and Jennifer Williams. Margie Sherratt, who confirmed in an email to the A lameda Post on Saturday afternoon that she is not seeking reelection, is also eligible for another term. But, since she did not file for the election before the close of the nomination period, the ROV has extended the nomination period. This is also the case in the election for EBMUD Ward 5 director—former City Councilmember Jim Oddie is the only candidate who has qualified for the election so far, and incumbent Doug Linney has also stated he will not stand for reelection. If no other candidates qualify for these races, the candidates who have already qualified will be seated in those offices. We will provide further updates after the extended nomination period has closed.

For the remaining local races in November, there are as many candidates as there are available offices. This means the following candidates will be seated in their respective offices without having to compete in the November election. Incumbent Kevin Kearney is unopposed in his race for City Auditor, as is fellow Kevin, incumbent Kevin Kennedy, the City Treasurer. And incumbents Stewart Chen and Jeff Cambra have no challengers for their seats on the Healthcare District Board.

Contests outside Alameda

Other contests on Alameda’s November ballot include races for the US House of Representatives, California State Senate and State Assembly, the state-wide race for US Senator, and the national contest for President.

For District 12 in Congress, the race to succeed Barbara Lee is between Lateefah Simon , who currently serves as a director for BART, and Dr. Jennifer Tran , president of the Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce. In the contest for State Senate District 7, Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguìn is opposed by AC Transit director, Jovanka Beckles in the quest to replace Nancy Skinner. And, in the race for State Assembly, District 18, incumbent Mia Bonta faces a challenge from Andre Sandford , a nonprofit housing and homeless program manager. All the candidates in these races are running as Democrats except for Sandford, who is listed under the American Independent Party.

There are two contests on the ballot for the junior US Senator from California. The first is a special vacancy election for the remainder of Dianne Feinstein’s term after she passed away in office. Currently Laphonza Butler is serving in her place. The winner of this election will take over from Butler until the the term ends in January 2025. The second contest is for the next six-year term, starting in January 2025. Both are contested by the same two candidates, Democrat Adam Schiff , who currently serves in the US House, and Republican Steve Garvey , a former professional baseball player.

The Presidential contest, recently given a jolt by incumbent President Joe Biden exiting the race, has three leading contenders: incumbent Vice-President Kamala Harris is the candidate for the Democrats, attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is running as an Independent, and former President Donald Trump is the Republican candidate.

There are many propositions and measures that will be included on the ballot. They will be detailed in an upcoming article.

Editor’s note, 1:00 p.m., August 10, 2024 : This article has been updated to reflect that the closing period for the AUSD Governing Board and EBMUD Ward 5 races have been extended because an incumbent in each of those races has not yet filed papers. It has also been updated to reflect that Margie Sherratt is indeed eligible for reelection to the AUSD Governing Board. We regret the errors. Second update, 5:30 p.m., August 10, 2024 : Updated article with Sherratt’s statement that she will not seek reelection.

Adam Gillitt is the Publisher of the Alameda Post . Reach him at publisher@alamedapost.com . His writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Adam-Gillitt .

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