Jennifer Esteen, a relative political newcomer, is running against long-time Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley to represent Castro Valley, most of Pleasanton and large parts of Oakland on the Board of Supervisors in the March 5 election.
Esteen, a registered psychiatric nurse, lives in the unincorporated community of Ashland with her wife and two children and is a member of the Eden Area Municipal Advisory Council.
She was also, until recently, a trustee on the Alameda Health System Board of Trustees, to which she was appointed by Miley, who didn’t re-appoint her to the position when her term expired last year.
In 2022, Esteen finished third in a four-person race to represent California Assembly District 20.
Her campaign website lists housing, health care, jobs and justice as among her priorities.
“We deserve to live in a county where all of us have housing we can afford, access to high-quality preventative healthcare when we need it, jobs that allow us to support ourselves and our families — and all of this in a county where we feel safe in the place we call home,” Esteen said in a news release when she announced her candidacy.
In a recent candidate forum hosted by the League of Women Voters Eden Area, Esteen said the county needs stronger tenant protections, a universal basic income program and that its public health and mental health services are underfunded.
She has won endorsements from the Castro Valley Democratic Club, the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, the Green Party of Alameda County, the Oakland Tenants Union and the grassroots political network Bay Rising Action, among others.
She has raised close to $300,000 in campaign contributions in 2023 and so far this year, according to her financial filings.
Miley seeks seventh term
Miley was first elected to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors District 4 seat in 2000, has served six consecutive terms and was a member of the Oakland City Council before that.
His campaign website lists housing and homelessness, violence prevention, senior care and illegal dumping as among his priorities.
His endorsements include state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Castro Valley, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, the California Nurses Association, the Sierra Club and the East Bay Association of Realtors, among others.
“Many of my colleagues who I’ve served with in 2020 are no longer on the Board of Supervisors so that’s one reason why I’m running again, to continue that continuity of service to work on multiple issues from the mental health crisis to the homeless crisis to the brazen and blatant lawlessness that we see in our society, reparations and a host of other issues and concerns that our complex community and our diverse community deals with,” Miley said during the candidate forum.
Miley has raised close to $350,000 in 2023 and so far this year, according to campaign finance disclosure forms filed with the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.