Preliminary results from Tuesday suggest that former Councilmember Malia Vella is leading in Alameda’s mayoral race, ahead of current Councilmembers Tracy Jensen and Tony Daysog.
Vella, Daysog and Jensen are battling for incumbent Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft’s seat as she is termed out of office.
As of Tuesday night, Vella had secured 43.5% of the counted votes, followed by Jensen at 29.8% and Daysog at 26.7%.
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.
“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.”
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.
For her mayoral campaign, Jensen’s priorities were responsible development, living-wage jobs, emergency preparedness and environmental resiliency, according to her candidate statement.
Finally, urban planner 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 if elected mayor would be to end the city’s police hiring freeze.