Why Kamala Harris’ home city kicked out its progressive leaders

Oakland, California, has a special place in the American progressive pantheon — birthplace of the Black Panthers, hotbed of labor organizing and the tenant rights’ movement, Berkeley’s bigger, edgier neighbor — so what happens in this city has ramifications far beyond the Bay Area.

And what happened here last week was huge. Voters in Oakland recalled their mayor, Sheng Thao, and their district attorney, Pamela Price (she represented Alameda County, where Oakland is by far the largest city). Both lost by about 30 percentage points, a gobsmacking margin for the city that Vice President Kamala Harris calls home.

By California law, voters will elect a new mayor and a new DA in soon-to-come special elections (until then both positions will be held by interim appointees). All indications are that they will tack right, just like the voters nationwide who made Donald Trump the first GOP presidential candidate to win the popular vote in two decades.