Come Nov. 3, Alameda voters will elect a new mayor from a field of two current councilmembers and one former councilmember, as incumbent Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft is termed out of office.
The current councilmembers are urban planner Tony Daysog and senior services administrator Tracy Jensen, while the third candidate is educator Malia Vella, who served on the City Council between 2016 and 2024.
Tony Daysog
Daysog is a City Council veteran who was first appointed in 1996 and has served as councilmember in 22 of the 30 years since. Most recently, he was elected in 2018 and was reelected in 2022.
In his candidate statement submitted to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters, he said that his top priority will be to end a police hiring freeze by the city.
“There is no need to keep the Chief from filling the 88 positions,” Daysog said in this candidate statement. “The ‘beach takeovers,’ and ongoing traffic concerns demonstrate this freeze is ill-conceived.”
Daysog added that supporting the city’s LGBTQ, immigrant, and faith communities, and sanctioning a sea-level rise commission will be other priorities in office for him.
Tracy Jensen
Jensen served as Oakland’s senior services administrator, and as a board member for the Alameda Unified School District and the Alameda Health Care District before her election to the Alameda City Council in 2022.
In her candidate statement, she lists improving pedestrian safety, expanding low-income housing, and bringing green technology companies to the city as her major achievements from her term on the City Council.
“My priorities are Alameda priorities,” Jensen said in her candidate statement. “As your mayor, I’ll focus on responsible development, living-wage jobs, emergency preparedness and environmental resiliency.”
Jensen’s candidacy is endorsed by Alameda County Supervisors Nate Miley and Lena Tam, and former two-term Alameda Mayor Beverly Johnson.
Malia Vella
An attorney by profession, Vella served two terms as councilmember from 2016 to 2024. She has also worked with the California Department of Education as a deputy superintendent and currently works in education advising, according to her campaign website.
In her candidate statement, she said affordability and climate change are the two main issues the city is facing today.
Transparency in city government, affordable housing, protecting the Alameda shoreline, and improving disaster preparedness will be her priorities if elected mayor.
“An education executive, I have the professional experience to lead innovation and change,” Vella said in her candidate statement. “As a native Alamedan with deep roots here, I’m committed to preserving what’s best about Alameda while moving us toward a vibrant future.”
Vella’s candidacy is endorsed by U.S. Reps. Lateefah Simon, D-Oakland, and Aisha Wahab, D-Castro Valley, state Sen. Jesse Arreguin, D-Oakland, Assemblymember Mia Bonta, D-Oakland, the outgoing mayor Ashcraft and Councilmembers Michele Pryor and Greg Boller.