While election analysts (and yours truly) didn’t give Jean Quan much of a shot against Don Perata when Perata emerged with a 11 point lead, the Ranked Choice Voting system may end up working in Quan’s favor when all is said and done.
Source: Alameda County Registrar
The whole count looks rather uneventful until you get to Rounds 9 and 10. In Round 9, Rebecca Kaplan is eliminated and her second place votes are transferred. Apparently Quan received three times as many higher-placed votes as Perata, which led to that same proportion of votes going straight to Quan. The last tabulation has Perata at 48.91% and Quan at 51.09%.
While RCV helps in terms of reining in election costs, it’s not a perfect system. There’s no weighting assigned to first, second, third and so on, making it possible for a candidate coming in a consistent second on most if not all ballots to win outright. That seems strange. Of course, if they were to weight votes they’d be getting into a terrible BCS-type controversy, and no one wants that for an election.
If this holds true, it’ll be a big boost for the Victory Court crowd. Then again, there’s action and then there’s just talk. Whatever the case, there should and will be a few laughs at Lew Wolff and John Fisher’s expense.
newballpark.org 
Guess the race comes down to the absentee ballots then…
How many absentee ballots are there? If Quan is up by 2,000, there would have to be an awful lot with a high percentage of Perata votes to make it happen for him.
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I wonder how much of a boost Quan really is to the Victory Court “plan.” I only know what I have read about Quan a little, but she doesn’t seem like the type to go all in on a baseball stadium.
Last I heard, about 11,000 ballots outstanding.
interesting … i was on here a couple days ago and someone was calling this race and saying “its over …”
Lets put the A’s situation to the side, briefly, this Perata guy is a sleazy character. I knew his supporters would be many, but the RCV would be his end. Folks either like him, or hate his guts!
Wow, what a comeback!! I’m not a huge Quan fan, and Kaplan was my first choice, but anyone but Perata. who I wouldn’t trust watching my goldfish. I know I don;t have a vote, but I have many friends in Oakland.
Now what, pro-SJ guys? If Quan wins, will that help Oakland, or is it still a done with SJ regardless of who’s mayor?
So I guess you’ll now get your ballpark JK! (yeah right) The hell with a $50 million deficit, layed off police officers, crime, schools, etc. Boy, is Oaklands election set up stupid or what. Win the mayoral race…but loose the mayoral race? Glad I don’t live or vote in Oakland; i’d be furious if I had voted for Perata! IMHO, I don’t think this changes anything (see Vince’s last sentence).
If Quan wins, the City of Oakland will have a loud cheerleader for a new ballpark in Oakland. However, where the A’s play in the future (Oakland, San Jose or even Fremont) will depend on the decision from MLB.
One has to remember, where the A’s play in the future will depend on what is best for baseball and not what is best for that city.
Even with a pro-A’s mayor, Oakland would still need someone willing to come forward and spend $1 billion on the A’s (to buy the team,land and build the stadium) since Oakland has no money for the project and no corporate support. In San Jose, the existing owner is ready to go and Cisco has signed on for $120 million worth of naming rights.
Jk, if Mark Purdy is right (and he has access to way more inside info than anyone here) MLB is greenlighting an attempt in San Jose. I don’t think any mayor changes it. My big question is still, is Quan going to be more than a cheerleader? I was reading about her over the past few days (East Bay Express and A Better Oakland, my go to sources for Oakland info) and I came away with a mixed opinion. From what I read in A Better Oakland, I wonder if she won’t say in effect “here is some land, how are you going to pay for it?” If a mayor says something like that to MLB, forget about it. On the other hand, she seems to have no problem with spending money the city doesn’t have, or raising taxes as a first resort. She may be willing to spend raise taxes and spend on a stadium… It will be interesting.
Ok, so even if she gets crackin’ on a plan next week, at best, Oakland is still 2-3 years behind San Jose., right?
@Pacifico – We can’t gauge anything like this. I seriously doubt that for MLB and Selig’s panel, the winner of the Oakland mayoral race was a significant piece of criteria. Quan’s record and ability to deliver for MLB and the A’s is at best an unknown. It’s a variable, something that MLB can’t depend upon immediately.
@Pacifico–maybe 1-2 years behind SJ, but I can wait. The problem is Lew can’t wait, and also kind of hates the town. I’m still hoping he decides to give up and sell to a local who cares. I’ve cut down on so many games with his ownership, and will be done with them altogether if he gets his way in San Jose.
I’ll then invest in more W’s games for sure, like last night. Winning ugly Friday night, but it was still an exciting win. And I’m a Raider season ticket holder, getting psyched for KC on Sunday and eventually the playoffs (i hope) this year.
WTF, Lew hates Oakland, but Al doesn’t?
gj10, Don’t expect the Oakland Only crowd to have much of a reasonable basis for their opinions. I gave up on that long ago. Al Davis has left Oakland, only to come back and screw the City. He si the poster child for what it means to be “in love with Oakland.”
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And when the W’s move to Mission Rock I imagine it will be because Lew Wolff hates Oakland.
re: I’m still hoping he decides to give up and sell to a local who cares.
Such as? Nothing is stopping such a person from coming forward right now and making his/her presence known. But is hasn’t happened. Nobody in their right mind is going to plunk down $1 billion for the A’s and a new ballpark in Oakland.
@Jeffrey–the W’s moving to SF is a long ways away, but may happen. It has nothing to do with LW. I don’t have a real problem with them leaving because they first played in SF and were called the SF Warriors, so they’re going back to their roots. A lot of fans are from SF. I talk to them all the time at the games. Many wore Giant’s gear at last nights game which is kind of silly. Wear W’s gear, people!
But they do fine at the Oracle. It’s a nice facility, but the area around it is lacking. I wish they would of built in downtown Oakland when they were talking about it in 90’s, but suburban families are afraid to go down there, just like if an A’s park was planned down there. DT Oak is much cooler than Mission Rock or suburba-Diridon any day, IMO.
JK-USA:
I’m a Raiders season ticket holder and charter PSL holder. I’ve attended the A’s games since 1968 and Raiders games since ’69.
I too hope that somehow Oakland can pull this out. Although I congratulate the Giants, it’s nice to see some positive news about an Oakland sports team this week (sellout).
I believe – as I have all along – that San Jose has been in the works for years and that’s why LW was selected in the first place.
Go Raiders!
Diridon isn’t suburbia.
I wish the A’s wouldve signed Monta Ellis to play 2B. If they could get 25+ per game out of 2B, they’d be unstoppable. Joking aside, an arena in SF would be awesome, though as a tax payer I can’t really come to terms with any public funds being used on yet another arena venue in the Bay Area.
So jk would be more comfortable with the A’s moving to KC or Philly than San Jose?
Now here is a question. Hypothetically, Would the A’s be able to move, uncontested, back to KC or Philly?
@Zonis – No.
I was listening to XTra Sports 860 yesterday and heard a commercial for Ken Dito’s show “The Press Box.” Apparently, Mark Purdy from the San Jose Mercury News will be on Dito’s show on Monday (9am – 10am.) I wonder if Purdy has any news to share regarding the A’s to San Jose.
@Jim Z–Hi, i’m a Jim also. Love my east bay sports for years too. I’ve been an avid A’s fan since 1971 (first game was a Vida Blue 3 hit shutout on my 9th birthday), Raiders since 1972, and W’s since 1974. Seen over 2000 sporting events at the Coliseum in 40 years, about 2/3rds of that A’s games. Supported the Golden Seals in the early 70’s, World Team Tennis Golden Gators in the late 70’s, and the Oakland Skates in mid 90’s. Love all those teams, even in mostly lousy years. I got tons of programs from over the years of all the teams and am still nostalgic at times and read through them over and over again.
You are hardcore being a former Raider PSL holder and I commend you for that. I was psyched on this years team knowing that Jamarcus was gone and bought season tix for the first time in 7 years.
Go Raaaaaaaaaaaiders!!!!! Tomorrow.
One of the only times that I’ll probably wholeheartedly agree with jk….
GO RAIDERS!!
third that
I was at the Stanford game tonight and there were a lot of people in Giants hats, vendors were selling Giants championship t-shirts in the parking lots, etc. I saw one young women in an A’s jersey and complimented her on being one of the few visible A’s fans left. She said “We’re all in hiding.”
@ baycommuter–I have no problem wearing my A’s hat—in fact I wore it tonight to the Sharks game–I like showing that not everyone has to jump on the bandwagon–
GoA’s, good on you. God knows I’m the last of my friends who held strong. Everyone I know who rooted for the A’s jumped ship except my immediate family. And based on their feelings so far this week, they’re not coming back.
I had my A’s hat on when I went to fleet week this year. In a way I felt like an alien, but I did see a couple A’s hats (out of the tens of thousands of people I saw).
yeah this offseason will be tough for us a’s fans who’ll gut it out. i wear my a’s gear weekly thru the years and seeing this much orange and black is making me sick especially when most of them jumped on the bandwagon a month or so ago.
green and gold isn’t as visable as much but hey, it will make it even sweeter for those who held firm when the a’s get their new park and hopefully win a world title sooner rather than later.
I wear my A’s gear weekly throughout the year too. I have tons of caps, and the only one I’ve never worn is that half A’s/half Giants cap they gave away 20 years ago. Simply ridiculous! There was fans who actually wore that stupid thing!
I love that show Highway To Heaven, where you’d see Victor French wear that A’s cap in every show. His character was a former Oakland cop. Free advertising for the A’s from 1984-89, when the show was on.