Libby Schaaf

---

title: "Libby Schaaf" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["21st-century-american-jews", "21st-century-american-women-politicians", "21st-century-mayors-of-places-in-california", "democratic-party-mayors-in-california", "jewish-american-people-in-california-politics", "jewish-american-mayors", "jewish-american-women-in-politics", "jews-from-california", "loyola-law-school-alumni", "mayors-of-oakland,-california", "oakland-city-council-members", "rollins-college-alumni", "skyline-high-school-(oakland,-california)-alumni", "women-city-councillors-in-california", "women-mayors-of-places-in-california", "1965-births", "living-people"] description: "American politician (born 1965)" topic_path: "politics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libby_Schaaf" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American politician (born 1965) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Libby Schaaf
image	Libby Schaaf (34490283036).jpg
alt	Schaaf smiling
caption	Schaaf in 2017
office	50th Mayor of Oakland
term_start	January 5, 2015
term_end	January 9, 2023
predecessor	Jean Quan
successor	Sheng Thao
office1	Member of the Oakland City Council
from 4th district
term_start1	January 2011
term_end1	January 2015
predecessor1	Jean Quan
successor1	Annie Campbell Washington
birth_name	Elizabeth Beckman Schaaf
birth_date
birth_place	Oakland, California, U.S.
party	Democratic
education	Rollins College (BA)
Loyola Marymount University (JD)
::

|name = Libby Schaaf |image = Libby Schaaf (34490283036).jpg |alt=Schaaf smiling |caption=Schaaf in 2017 |office = 50th Mayor of Oakland |term_start = January 5, 2015 |term_end = January 9, 2023 |predecessor = Jean Quan |successor = Sheng Thao |office1 = Member of the Oakland City Council from 4th district |term_start1 = January 2011 |term_end1 = January 2015 |predecessor1 = Jean Quan |successor1 = Annie Campbell Washington |birth_name = Elizabeth Beckman Schaaf |birth_date = |birth_place = Oakland, California, U.S. |death_date = |death_place = |party = Democratic |education = Rollins College (BA) Loyola Marymount University (JD) Elizabeth Beckman Schaaf (born November 12, 1965) is an American politician who served as the 50th Mayor of Oakland, California from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served on the Oakland City Council.

Schaaf won the November 4, 2014 Oakland mayoral election in the 14th round in ranked choice voting with 62.79% of the vote. She won re-election in 2018 with a 27% margin.

Early life and education

Schaaf was born in Oakland, California, on November 12, 1965. Her mother was a flight attendant. Growing up in Oakland's District 4, Schaaf attended Head-Royce School and Skyline High School, both in Oakland. She holds a B.A. in political science from Rollins College and a J.D. from Loyola Law School.

Early career

Before starting her political career, Schaaf was an attorney in Oakland at the law firm of Reed Smith LLP. She then became the program director for the Marcus A. Foster Educational Institute in 1995, creating and running a new volunteer program for the Oakland Unified School District.

Schaaf's first roles in local government were as legislative aide to Oakland City Council president Ignacio De La Fuente and special assistant to Oakland mayor Jerry Brown.

In 2006, Schaaf joined the Port of Oakland as the Director of Public Affairs, helping to secure state and federal funding for the city of Oakland, as well as directing all strategic communications for the port. In 2009, Schaaf graduated from Emerge California, a training program for women who aspire to elected office.

Before joining the Oakland City Council in 2010, Schaaf served as the Economic Policy Advisor for the council for a year.

Oakland City Council

In 2010, Schaaf was elected to represent her home district, District 4, on the Oakland City Council.

During her tenure on the city council, Schaaf fought to raise the minimum wage, voicing her support for Measure FF, also known as Lift Up Oakland, a $12.25 minimum wage ballot initiative which passed in a landslide on November 4, 2014. Schaaf also strove to increase government transparency and efficiency, build a safer city, and strengthen Oakland neighborhoods in her time on city council. She worked extensively on Oakland Police Department reform, hiring more civilian staff and pushing through a plan to coordinate the Oakland Police Department with the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, to increase the number of officers patrolling Oakland.

Mayor of Oakland

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Libby_Schaff_and_Jerry_Brown_January_2015.JPG" caption="Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf with California governor [[Jerry Brown]] at Schaaf's inaugural celebration (pictured with the art car, the Golden Mean)."] ::

In the race for Oakland mayor, Schaaf was endorsed by Governor of California Jerry Brown and US Senator Barbara Boxer. Schaaf triumphed over incumbent mayor Jean Quan and several other candidates in November 2014.

Department of Transportation

In June 2015, Mayor Schaaf announced the formation of Oakland's first Department of Transportation. The Department of Transportation assumed some responsibilities formerly held by Oakland Public Works, such as road design, resurfacing and maintenance. In her announcement, Mayor Schaaf said that the focus will be on, "sustainable strategies that can bring needed change quickly to city streets."

The Department of Transportation consists of 300 employees, previously working in the Department of Public Works and Oakland Police Department's Parking Enforcement operations.

Funding for the Department of Transportation came from many public resources, including Measure BB, a sales tax approved in November 2014 to fund transportation projects in Alameda County. Schaaf hired Matt Nichols as her Policy Director for Transportation and Infrastructure in March 2015. Jeff Tumlin was named Interim Director of the department in June 2016.

Controversy over freedom of assembly

In May 2015, Mayor Schaaf instituted a ban on un-permitted nighttime marches on public roadways in Oakland, citing existing city policies. The first enforcement of this ban was on May 21, during a #SayHerName march, a nationwide coordinated march focused on ending state violence against black women and girls in the US. Demonstrators met at Frank Ogawa Plaza before sunset for a rally. After the rally, demonstrators began to march onto the street. Police officers told them to keep to the sidewalks, and cited California Vehicle Code Section 2800, making it an arrestable offense not to comply with the police order. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Kamala_Harris_and_Libby_Schaaf_in_2020.jpg" caption="Schaaf with Senator [[Kamala Harris]] in 2020"] ::

Enactment of this policy brought harsh criticism and allegations of illegality from some constitutional lawyers, including civil rights attorney and one of the co-authors of Oakland Police Department's Crowd Control and Crowd Management Policy, Rachel Lederman: "My general impression is the police took an unduly aggressive approach that not only violated their own crowd control policy, but also the First Amendment... This was an unreasonable interference with the demonstration given that there had been no serious crimes committed." Other legal experts pointed to similar policies in cities like New York, which have been ruled constitutional.

ICE alert

Schaaf alerted city residents to imminent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in February 2018, receiving criticism from some federal authorities. She responded, "I was sharing information in a way that was legal and was not obstructing justice, and it was an opportunity to ensure that people were aware of their rights." ICE’s acting director Thomas Homan stated that ICE failed to arrest around 800 people because of the alert.

Guaranteed income for minority residents

In March 2021, Schaaf announced that 600 selected non-white, low-income families of Oakland would receive $500 per month "guaranteed income" for 18 months. According to the project's website, the income is funded by private philanthropic donations.

Allegations of campaign finance violations

After she left office, Schaaf was accused of a pattern of campaign finance violations following an investigation by the Oakland Public Ethics Commission. Schaaf and the Commission agreed to a settlement in October 2024.

Campaign for state treasurer

On January 11, 2024, Schaaf announced a run for California state treasurer in the 2026 election. She suspended her campaign in August 2025 and endorsed Eleni Kounalakis.

Personal life

Schaaf is Jewish. She lives in Oakland with her husband Salvatore Fahey. They have two children, Dominic and Lena.

Charitable work

Schaaf co-founded the nonprofit Oakland Cares. She also built and ran a centralized volunteer program for Oakland public schools at the Marcus Foster Institute. She has been on the Leadership Council at Kiva, a non-profit organization that allows people to lend money via the Internet to low-income entrepreneurs and students in over 80 countries.

Electoral history

Since 2010, Oakland elections have used ranked choice voting.

City Council

::data[format=table]

2010 Oakland City Council district 4 election vote count by round	Candidate	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6
Libby Schaaf	8,756	8,758	8,835	9,001	9,249	10,439
Jill Broadhurst	4,807	4,809	4,878	5,062	5,286	5,828
Melanie Shelby	2,463	2,466	2,552	2,652	3,017	3,404
Daniel Swafford	2,348	2,351	2,444	2,741	2,886
Clinton Killian	1,138	1,143	1,203	1,273
Ralph Kanz	883	885	936
Jason Gillen	530	531
Write-in	69
Continuing votes	20,994	20,943	20,848	20,729	20,438	19,671
Exhausted ballots	0	51	145	262	549	1,309
Over Votes	46	46	47	49	53	60
Under Votes	2,844	2,844	2,844	2,844	2,844	2,844
Total	23,884	23,884	23,884	23,884	23,884	23,884
::

Mayoral

2014

Main article: 2014 Oakland mayoral election

2018

References

References

1. (December 2, 2013). "Councilwoman Libby Schaaf files to run for Oakland mayor". KTVU.
2. (November 4, 2014). "2014 Mayoral Election Results". OaklandWiki.
3. (January 5, 2015). "Mayor Libby Schaaf: Official Biodata".
4. (November 7, 2018). "Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf wins re-election". ABC7 San Francisco.
5. "Mayoral election in Oakland, California (2018)".
6. "Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf Is Our East Bay Person of the Year".
7. Tavares, Steven. (January 8, 2016). "Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf Is Our East Bay Person of the Year".
8. (March 7, 2018). "Oakland's Libby Schaaf vs. the Feds".
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10. (October 8, 2018). "De La Fuente to challenge Schaaf for Oakland mayor in 2018". San Francisco Chronicle.
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13. "Libby Schaaf profile".
14. Schaaf, Libby. "Libby Schaaf for Mayor of Oakland".
15. (October 15, 2014). "Vote Libby Schaaf for Mayor of Oakland".
16. (March 5, 2015). ""Fair Wage Food Tastes Better": Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf Talks Minimum Wage Hike".
17. (November 4, 2014). "Oakland voters approve two tax measures, minimum wage hike".
18. "Full Biography for Libby Schaaf".
19. (October 7, 2014). "Gov. Jerry Brown lends support to ex-aide in Oakland mayor's race". Sfgate.
20. Anthony, Laura. (October 6, 2014). "Gov. Brown endorses candidate in Oakland mayor's race".
21. (October 28, 2014). "Sen. Boxer endorses Schaaf in Oakland Mayoral Race".
22. (November 5, 2014). "Schaaf defeats Quan, wins Oakland mayoral race in landslide". The East Bay Times.
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24. (June 9, 2016). "City Of Oakland Starts New Transportation Department".
25. "Advocates hope Oakland's new Department of Transportation will transform city's streets".
26. (June 8, 2016). "Media Advisory: Mayor Libby Schaaf Launches Oakland's First Transportation Department". Office of the Mayor Libby Schaaf.
27. (June 9, 2016). "City of Oakland starts new transportation department".
28. "Measure BB: Alameda CTC".
29. Levin, Sam. (March 4, 2015). "Mayor Libby Schaaf Hires Oakland's First Transportation Policy Director".
30. (January 16, 2016). "News about #sayhername on Twitter". Twitter.
31. (May 22, 2015). "Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf Institutes Ban On Nighttime Street Protests".
32. "Protests held in Oakland over mayor's new ban on nighttime marches". ABC7.
33. Julie Hirschfeld Davis. (May 16, 2018). "Trump Calls Some Unauthorized Immigrants 'Animals' in Rant".
34. [[David Nakamura]] and Jenna Johnson. (May 16, 2018). "Trump suggests Justice Department investigate Oakland's Democratic mayor for tipping off immigrants".
35. (February 26, 2018). "Oakland Mayor Criticized For Warning People Of Pending Immigration Sweeps".
36. (2018-03-04). "Jewish mayor of Oakland defends decision to tip off community to immigration raid".
37. (March 24, 2021). "Oakland will give low-income families of color $500 per month, no strings attached".
38. "FAQs 2".
39. (6 September 2024). "Former Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf faces thousands in ethics fines". The Oaklandside.
40. (October 11, 2024). "Former Oakland Mayor Schaaf to pay $21,000 ethics fine". The Oaklandside.
41. (January 11, 2024). "Former Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf announces bid for California state treasurer in 2026".
42. Park, Brooke. (August 8, 2025). "Former Oakland mayor Libby Schaff ends bid for state treasurer after Kounalakis enters race". [[San Francisco Chronicle]].
43. (January 21, 2014). "California Councilwoman Libby Schaaf Targeted With Swastikas in Oakland".
44. Griego, Michelle. (January 19, 2014). "Flyers Of Jewish Councilwoman With Swastika On Her Face Posted In Oakland".
45. (March 5, 2018). "Jewish Oakland mayor defends decision to warn community of immigration raid".
46. "Councilmember Profile".
47. "Leadership".
48. "Oakland".
49. "RCV Results Report". Alameda County.
50. (6 December 2018). "Mayor - Oakland (RCV) Vote for One (1) Only". Alameda County.
51. (6 December 2018). "Ranked-Choice Voting Accumulated Results - Mayor - Oakland". Alameda County.

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