Charlene Wang

We're pleased to endorse Councilmember Charlene Wang again for Oakland D2. CM Wang has been a consistent supporter of housing in her district and throughout Oakland generally. She showed real leadership and scored a major win for housing when Oakland’s implementation of transit-oriented upzoning bill SB79 was up for a vote. The original plan from city staff would have delayed the law coming into effect in her district for 6 years, but she questioned the delay and championed the effort to have it come into effect sooner, a crucial and bold stand that encouraged SB79 adoption in neighboring cities. CM Wang also has touted her efforts to add more homeownership options through AB 1033 ADU conversions, and we appreciate her focus on improving transit and safe streets as well. Going forward, she intends to lower the cost of construction (faster permitting, simpler standards, and more flexible unit sizes) and continue to work on improving Oakland’s response to homelessness. We applaud her work and can't wait to see what she can accomplish given four more years.

Charlene Wang is the Oakland City Councilmember for District 2, elected in an April 2025 special election, after running for the council's at-large seat in November 2024. She served in the Biden-Harris administration, leading an initiative to reconnect communities divided by highways, and worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on environmental justice and civil rights. An East Bay native, she holds an Environmental Engineering degree from Columbia University and a Master's in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.