Former Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf Formally Endorses Recall Of Mayor Sheng Thao

Former Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf formally endorsed the recall of Mayor Sheng Thao on Friday, giving her support to the campaign to recall Sheng Thao in November.

Since being elected as Mayor in the closest Mayoral election in city history in 2022, violent crimes have skyrocketed in Oakland. In 2023,  burglaries shot up by 23%, with vehicle thefts jumping up by 45% and robberies up 38%. The murder rate also remained high, staying above 100 in a single year for yet another year in a row. With many believing that Thao has not been addressing crime and public safety concerns, and other issues coming up such as continued homeless issues,  the firing of the police chief LeRonne Armstrong, and Thao’s failure in trying to keep the Oakland Athletics from relocating to Las Vegas, residents began calling for her recall last year.

The petition grew this year, and earlier this summer, Thao was slammed with multiple political blows. In mid-June, the Alameda County Registrar of Voters announced that enough signatures have been approved to officially put the recall vote against Mayor Sheng Thao on the ballot, with Thao becoming the first Mayor in Oakland history to ever face a recall election.

Only two days later, her home in Oakland was raided by the FBI, with agents being seen carrying out boxes of evidence. Thao remained out of the public eye during the weekend aftermath, during which, she faced an increasing number of calls to resign. Finally, that Monday, she gave a press conference. There, Thao spoke to the media for the first time since the incidents, claiming she was innocent of any wrongdoing and that ‘right-wing forces’ were behind the entire incident.

Rather than calm down critics and bolster ally support, her remarks were instead viewed  as “unhinged” and “very un-mayoral like.” This caused many close to her to drop out. After her outburst on Monday, her attorney, Tony Brass, quickly resigned as her counsel as her speech had been unplanned. The very next day her Chief Spokesman, Francis Zamora, also resigned. Going into last month, the U.S. Attorney’s office began subpoenaing more documents on Thao for their investigation. Groups such as the NAACP also began asking for her resignation.

By August, calls for her to resign grew, while polls showed that more and more in Oakland supported her recall. A poll that came out showed that she had a 69% disapproval rating, with 56% of Oakland voters supporting her recall. In the next few months, support for her recall remained high. All the while, Thao has fought tooth and nail against the recall, saying in response to the recall effort “I have the best job in the world. That’s because every day I have a chance to fight for a safer, more affordable, and more prosperous Oakland. I ask all Oaklanders to help me achieve that vision with hope and collaboration and push aside fear and division. Let’s bring our community together to fight for the City we love.”

Not helping matters is a $48 million budget gap that recall supporters have pounced on. This all led to Friday, when former Mayor Schaaf officially back the recall supporters, calling Thao’s tenure “It was death by a thousand cuts.”

Breaking: Former Oakland Mayor ⁦@LibbySchaaf endorses the recall of ⁦@ShengThaoMayor.⁩ https://t.co/8GIDdlQr6j

— Scott Shafer (@scottshafer) October 18, 2024

“I  have come to believe, just based on this last year, that she is not capable of growing into the job,” said Schaff on Friday. “I am voting to recall Mayor Thao because Oakland can’t afford another two years of continued damage to our fiscal solvency and our public safety. Look, every mayor inherits both good things and bad things that their predecessor did and their predecessors before their predecessors. These are all things that have happened in the past, but no one is interested in who’s to blame. They’re only interested in moving forward.”

While Thao did not comment on Schaaf’s backing of the recall, Thao’s supporters spoke out later on Friday, saying that Schaaf was to blame for Thao’s current problems.

“Since taking office, Mayor Sheng Thao has been cleaning up the mess Schaaf left behind,” said Oaklanders Defending Democracy in a statement. “For the first time since 2019, Oakland is on track to have fewer than 100 homicides this year. Yet, by endorsing a Yes vote on the upcoming measure, Schaaf is asking Oakland voters to embrace chaos: five mayors in three years. Oakland cannot afford such instability.”

While Schaaf’s endorsement isn’t surprising, it expected to tip the favor of the recall more firmly into the ‘yes’ camp.

“When it rains it pours for Thao,” explained Alameda County pollster Elena Sierra to the Globe on Friday. “Her supporters do have a point that Thao did inherit some of these problems, but how she has dealt with them and all the new ones that she has come up with it are what is hurting her right now. Crime has worsened, homelessness remains bad. The city is in a financial hole. The FBI is on her. And she helped lose the A’s. This is not the resume of a competent lawmaker. That’s why her recall vote is succeeding right now. And that’s why Schaaf gave her support today.”

Final polls on the recall will come out sometime later this month.