Candidate for
Mayor; City of Oakland

Rebecca Kaplan represents the entire City of Oakland as its Councilmember At-Large. Elected in November 2008, she works to provide energetic and effective leadership on behalf of her constituents + working to improve quality of life by restoring public safety, expanding economic opportunity and rebuilding trust in government.

Councilmember Kaplan was elected to the Oakland City Council in November 2008, when she became the youngest + and first openly-lesbian + Oakland city councilmember.

Rebecca has worked to establish coherent and holistic approaches to public safety, economic opportunity & job creation, fiscal responsibility and other strategies to create a thriving city and move Oakland forward.

On the Council, Rebecca has fixed long-standing legislative logjams, voting against police layoffs and successfully advocating for the restoration of police officers while pushing for transparency and accountability, has helped broker job-generating projects like the Countywide Transportation Plan and the Oakland Army Base, and has stewarded public dollars by holding banks accountable for foreclosures, blight and other predatory misconduct.

Rebecca is strongly committed to expanding economic opportunity for all Oakland, working to create jobs, attract new retail and keep people safe by employing new, innovative approaches to fighting crime like Operation Ceasefire and supporting technology such as ShotSpotter.

Prior to her service on the Oakland City Council, Rebecca served as At-Large Director on the AC Transit Board of Directors from 2002 to 2009. During this time, she helped bring AC Transit its first hydrogen fuel cell buses and continued her commitment to improving active transportation for Oaklanders by working to improve biking, walking and public transit opportunities. Rebecca led the creation of the new all-night transit service, new service to San Francisco and to BART stations and pushed for technological upgrades to make service faster and more reliable.

Councilmember Kaplan has made Oakland her home for the past two decades. Her work experience includes working as an attorney in Oakland and serving as an aide for the California State Legislature in the 16th Assembly District.

Councilmember Kaplan earned a Bachelor of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she was awarded the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor. She also holds a Master of Arts in Urban & Environmental Policy from Tufts University and a Juris Doctorate from Stanford Law School.