Update: Bas narrowly defeats Bauters in race for D5 Alameda County Supervisor

Update, Dec. 4 Oakland Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas narrowly defeated her opponent, John Bauters, to win retiring Alameda County supervisor Keith Carson’s District 5 seat.

She won by just 425 votes out of 141,989 counted, according to the final batch of votes counted and released by the county on Tuesday evening.

“I will bring an unflagging commitment and engage the community to serve every resident by expanding affordable housing and effective solutions to homelessness, accessible healthcare, good jobs, and safe communities,” Bas wrote on X after declaring victory on Nov. 20.

Bauters has conceded the race.

Original story, Nov. 15: The District 5 Alameda County supervisor race is still too close for anyone to claim decisive victory. But for the first time since Nov. 5, Oakland Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas has taken the lead over her opponent, Emeryville Councilmember John Bauters.

On Friday, the Alameda County Registrar of Voters released its latest batch of counted votes showing Bas with 68,736 votes to Bauters’ 68,630. This gives Bas a lead of a mere 106 vote lead.

The race could swing again back in Bauters favor in the next update and anyone could win by the time all the ballots are counted. 

We asked Registrar Tim Dupuis on how many ballots remain to be processed and will update our story if we hear back. 

A win for Bas will have implications for the mayoral transition in Oakland. As council president, Bas is supposed to take over as interim mayor once the registrar certifies the recall against Sheng Thao and the City Council approves the election results, likely on Dec. 17.

In the first week of January, the Oakland City Council will vote for a new council president who will become interim mayor until a new mayor is sworn in following a special election in mid-April. 

Assuming Bas moves to the county seat, Oakland would also use the special election to vote on someone to finish up Bas’ term in District 2.