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Supported by PolicyLink Bay City News Foundation is partnering on this series with the Bay Area Equity Atlas, a collaborative project with the San Francisco Foundation, PolicyLink, and the USC Equity Research Institute. PolicyLink and the San Francisco Foundation provided grants to support this project.

Democracy Day: People of Color making modest gains in Bay Area’s halls of power

by Kiley Russell, Bay City News September 15, 2023September 15, 2023
Sponsored by PolicyLink

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Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe speaks during the unveiling of a transitional housing hotel at Opportunity Village, formerly known as Executive Inn Hotel, in Antioch Calif., on April 27, 2023. (Harika Maddala/Bay City News/Catchlight Local)

Times are changing, albeit ever so slowly, according to new data quantifying racial and ethnic diversity among the Bay Area’s local elected officials.   

Over the past few election cycles, people of color have generally continued to make modest gains in the halls of power across the region but are still proportionally underrepresented compared to their share of the population, according to numbers compiled by the Bay Area Equity Atlas.    

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Tagged: Bay Area elected officials, Bay Area Equity Atlas, Bay Area politicians, Democracy Day, elected officials, politics

Kiley Russell, Bay City News

Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

More by Kiley Russell, Bay City News

Local News Matters brings community coverage to the SF Bay Area so that the people, places and topics that deserve more attention get it. Our nonprofit newsroom is supported by the generosity of readers like you via tax-deductible donations to Bay City News Foundation.

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