Chief Assistant City Attorney Ryan Richardson was ahead Monday in the Oakland city attorney contest against Brenda Harbin-Forte, according to the latest election results released by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters. Â
Richardson was ahead with 58% of the vote compared to Harbin-Forte’s 41%.
Richardson has a history in employment law and worked in Oakland’s equal employment office prior to joining the city attorney’s office.
Harbin-Forte is a retired judge and an Oakland police commissioner during former mayor Libby Schaaf’s administration. She has most recently been a leader of the recall effort to oust Mayor Sheng Thao.
The city’s new chief attorney will replace City Attorney Barbara Parker, who did not seek reelection.
Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.
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