Treva Reid joins incumbent Oakland council members who won’t run for re-election

OAKLAND — Three of the city’s eight incumbent council members will not run for re-election in November, leaving wide open the races for public office that could reshape Oakland’s political landscape.

Treva Reid, the councilmember representing East Oakland’s District 7, did not file paperwork by the late Friday afternoon deadline at City Hall — a last-minute revelation that caught two of her would-be challengers by surprise when they learned of Reid’s decision.

Reid joins two fellow council members who similarly are foregoing a re-election bid: at-large member Rebecca Kaplan, a tenured Oakland politician, and District 1’s Dan Kalb, who unsuccessfully ran earlier this year for an East Bay state senate seat.

Reid, the daughter of former longtime councilmember Larry Reid, did not immediately respond to a message asking why she would not seek to retain her seat.

Two other incumbents, Carroll Fife and Noel Gallo, did file papers to run for their seats again. The council added two new faces — Janani Ramachandran and Kevin Jenkins — in the 2022 election.

With council President Nikki Fortunato Bas the frontrunner to win election to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and Mayor Sheng Thao facing a recall effort, the stage is set for November to have a monumental impact on how Oakland is governed.

This story will be updated.