Next year's mayoral races in two of the Bay Area's three biggest cities are starting to take shape.
Sam Liccardo and Libby Schaaf are in their second and final terms as mayors of San Jose and Oakland, respectively, and two candidates are formally entering the fray to succeed them this week.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez will announce her candidacy on Thursday, according to a fundraising email obtained by San José Spotlight. The outlet previously reported last week that Chavez had registered a campaign finance committee with the California Secretary of State.
Chavez currently represents part of San Jose in District 2 of Santa Clara County. She served on the San Jose City Council from 1999-2007 and as vice mayor from 2005-2007. Chavez previously ran for mayor in 2006, but she has been a supervisor since 2013 and chairs the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. San Jose City Councilmembers Dev Davis, Raul Peralez and Matt Mahan have also announced their intentions to run.
In Oakland, City Councilmember Loren Taylor said in a release sent to KCBS Radio that he filed paperwork with the city Wednesday afternoon in order to run for mayor next year. He will hold a campaign kickoff event on Saturday.
"I am running for Mayor to unite our communities and realize Oakland's potential for all who want to live here," Taylor, who currently represents part of East Oakland in District 6, wrote in an email to supporters. "As Mayor, I'll focus on delivering results rather than rhetoric and making progress rather than politics."
Taylor was first elected to the Oakland City Council in 2018, earning Schaaf's endorsement. He is the first candidate to enter the city's mayoral race.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed, meanwhile, won’t face re-election this fall when San Jose and Oakland decide on her big-city counterparts’ successors. Breed was elected to her first full term in 2019, and she would be eligible for re-election to a second and final term in 2023.
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