Recall elections coming in Oakland and Alameda County, California, this November, as frustration with progressives grows.
By Eileen Griffin
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao (D) faces a recall organized by frustrated residents tired of living with Leftist policies.
The Mayor of Oakland, California, is fighting a recall effort, The Blaze reports. The city’s residents have had enough of the rampant crime and overwhelming number of homeless people living in public areas.
Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao (OUST), the organization spearheading the recall effort, refers to Thao as “incompetent” and “dishonest,” on their website
“Across Oakland, neighbors are uniting to restore the voice of the people and return values to our city that mayor Sheng Thao lacks—integrity and hard work,” the website states. “In just a year, Thao’s incompetence and dishonesty accelerated Oakland’s decline, causing longstanding businesses to close and generational families to leave.”
Those in favor of the recall cite several reasons, KTVU reports. Anarchy and overwhelming crime top the list. While the city is facing unprecedented levels of criminal activity, Thao fired Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong and has yet to find a replacement.
“Thao’s actions have pushed Oakland to the brink, but the community is saying, ‘No More’,” OUST president and retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brenda Harbin-Forte told the outlet. “We want Thao gone.”
In her state of the city address in October of last year, Thao addressed the crime issue.
“Community safety is my top priority, and making Oakland safer for children, families, businesses, and visitors is the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning and the only thing on my mind when I fall asleep at night,” Thao said.
In her biography Thao refers to herself as, “one of the Bay Area’s strongest and most effective progressive leaders.” She states her commitment to racial justice, protecting tenants from eviction, and building affordable housing.
While running for office she was supported by several unions, the Jane Fonda climate PAC, and Planned Parenthood. Thao was also endorsed by the Working Families Party (WFP), a third party working within the Democrat party.
“We organize outside the two parties, and then we recruit and train people-powered candidates up and down the ballot and run them to win,” the WFP website reads. “Sometimes we run candidates through Democratic Party primaries, and other times we run candidates on our own.”
Thao was also endorsed by a Bernie Sanders organization, Our Revolution. Their mission is to transform the country largely through infiltration of the Democratic party.
“Transformative change requires an inside-outside strategy that takes on corporate power everywhere—including within the Democratic Party,” the website reads.
The organization endorses progressive candidates who will support student loan forgiveness, tuition-free college, climate change, expanding Medicare, and taxing the wealthy.
In addition to the recall, Thao is facing an FBI investigation, The Blaze reports. Her home was raided, and files were retrieved from her office. It is an ongoing investigation.
Another progressive will also be on the ballot for recall in November, Politico reports. District Attorney Pamela Price from Alameda County, the county where Oakland is located, is also facing a recall.
Price was elected in 2022. Hwe campaign was funded by progressive billionaire George Soros. Progressive policies and ideologies were clear during her campaign. She promised to shorten the sentences of convicted criminals, limit incarceration altogether, and to prosecute police officers if she decides that they have used lethal force unlawfully.
While running for office, Price’s platform included ending the death penalty, protecting immigrant communities, eliminating charging youth as adults, and providing alternatives to incarceration.
Price led the District Attorney’s office in efforts to release convicted criminals from prison, San Francisco Public Safety News reported. Price sent staff to argue in favor of releasing murderers.
Under Price’s leadership, the department has not been functioning as a typical DA’s office. Criminals are catered to while police officers and jail guards are investigated and prosecuted.
In October of 2023, Save Alameda for Everyone (SAFE) was formed to recall Price.
“We know that recalling a public official is a long and arduous process necessitating a large and sustained grassroots effort, however, we are resolved to remove Price from office, because our safety and that of our families is at stake,” their website states.
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