Perata will not contest Oakland mayoral results

— The presumed frontrunner in the Oakland mayor race said Thursday that the city's new ranked-choice system needs to be given a "hard look" after it helped city councilwoman Jean Quan upset him to become the first Asian-American leader of a major U.S. city.

Don Perata conceded to Quan, saying he had "no quarrel" and won't contest his narrow upset defeat by slightly more than 2,000 votes. The former president pro tem of the state Senate held a double-digit lead last week.

"You play by the rules, and you win or lose by the rules," a weary-sounding Perata said, adding that non-English speaking, elderly and uneducated voters were likely confused. "To me, if this was a normal election, I'd be a landslide winner."

But experts familar with the ranked-choice system say that Perata, once among the most powerful politicians in California - and the subject of a federal corruption probe that went for naught - was knocked out.

"He sounds like the heavyweight champion who suddenly got hit with a haymaker and didn't know where it came from," said Steven Hill, an elections consultant who helped bring ranked-choice voting to Oakland and San Francisco.

The 2010 election was the first time Oakland's ranked-choice election system was used in the mayoral race. That system, which voters approved in 2006, is generally viewed as a more democratic approach to electing public officials and asks voters to rank their top three choices in order.

"Most of us go in to vote for one person, for one office. And there's now shades and degrees of who should be first, second and third," Perata said. "It's just very different from what we're accustomed to."

Election officials announced Wednesday that Quan won after Oakland voters listed her as one of their three choices on at least 51 percent of the ballots, compared to 49 percent for Perata.

Despite having the highest number of first-choice votes, Perata lost the election after votes for city councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan were reapportioned. She came in third.

Quan arguably benefited from having enough second- and third-place votes as she and Kaplan urged supporters to vote for the other as their second choice during their campaigns, using what many dubbed the "Anybody But Perata" strategy.

Hill said Perata underestimated voters by not doing enough outreach and canvassing, and pointed out that Quan won 133 city precincts compared to Perata's 111. The mayor's race could become "the blueprint" on how you win in a close ranked-choice election, Hill added.

"You have to build a coalition," Hill said. "In this age of really polarized politics and nasty negative campaigns, that's a good thing."

Rob Richie, executive director of the suburban Washington, D.C.-based FairVote, said Quan didn't receive any major endorsements or have a big campaign budget compared to Perata, but she had a strong core of supporters and a broad base.

"That was the smart way," Richie said. "At this point, this might be ultimately the most talked about and defining ranked-choice election ever."

Quan said Wednesday that she has heard the "snarky" remarks about the ranked choice system, and argued that Oakland voters were "not stupid" and were well informed about the process.

"It gives hope to people who are outspent. It gives hope to people, that as long as you can organize your neighborhoods and you can get volunteers, you can win," Quan said during her acceptance speech outside City Hall.

"And, in a democracy," Quan concluded. "If you win by one vote, you win."

The Associated Press


