The New Man to Beat In Oaktown

Apparently the "Draft Dellums" posters can come down in our neighborhood now, as we see that Ron Dellums has announced his candidacy to replace Jerry Brown as Mayor of Oakland. Until today it seemed that City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente was a shoe-in for the job, despite the fact that nobody was particularly excited by the idea, aside from Jerry Brown himself (who has endorsed De La Fuente). Dellums, who once sat on the Berkeley City Council and represented Oakland (and nearby locales) in Congress for 28 years until local hero Barbara Lee took over, now seems the immediate front-runner. "If Ron Dellums running for mayor gives you hope, let's get on with it,'' he said today, and quite frankly, after the terrible (but predictable) disappointment of Jerry's eight years as Mayor, we're feeling pretty hopeful in Oakland this afternoon.

photo grabbed from our friends at globetrotter.berkeley.edu