Sheng Thao #

Introduction #

Sheng Thao is an American politician who served as the 51st mayor of Oakland, California, from January 2023 until she was recalled from office in November 2024, the first successful removal of a mayor in the city’s history. As the first Hmong American mayor of a major U.S. city, her tenure was closely watched: a mayoral race won by fewer than 700 votes, a mid-term FBI raid on her home, and a voter recall that removed her less than two years into her first term. In January 2025, federal prosecutors indicted Thao and her longtime partner on bribery charges, alleging a pay-to-play scheme tied to city contracts. She has pleaded not guilty, and her case is headed to trial.

Background Information #

Thao was born in 1985 in Stockton, California, to refugees from Laos. The seventh of ten children, she grew up in poverty and spent part of her childhood in public housing. As a young adult in Oakland, she was a victim of domestic violence and, after leaving the relationship while pregnant, lived in her car. Raising her son as a single mother, she returned to school, earning an associate’s degree in legal studies at Merritt College before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley, where she completed a bachelor’s degree with a minor in city planning.

After graduating, Thao worked for Oakland City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, eventually becoming her chief of staff. It was during that period that she met her longtime partner, Andre Jones, then also Kaplan’s chief of staff. In 2018 she ran for the District 4 City Council seat, winning with 54 percent of the vote and becoming the first Hmong woman elected to a city council in California. She later served as president pro tempore of the council.

In November 2022, Thao won the mayoral race through ranked-choice voting by a margin of fewer than 700 votes over her more moderate opponent, Loren Taylor. She took office on January 9, 2023, pledging to focus on crime, homelessness, and affordable housing.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

Thao’s tenure was thrown into turmoil almost immediately. Within weeks of taking office, she placed popular Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong on administrative leave and then fired him over his handling of a police misconduct investigation, a decision critics argued left the city without a permanent chief for nearly a year during a crime surge; Armstrong later sued the city and the mayor. Her administration also missed the deadline for a state retail-theft grant, losing millions in funding, which a city audit later attributed to poor communication.

As criticism mounted, the Oakland Police Officers Union and, following a federal raid, the local NAACP chapter each called on her to resign. The pivotal blow came in June 2024, when the FBI, with IRS and Postal Inspection Service agents, raided Thao’s home and three other properties as part of a corruption investigation. The raid landed just two days after a recall petition was certified. A group called Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao (OUST) had submitted the petition in early June, and the Alameda County Registrar of Voters confirmed enough valid signatures to force a recall election. At the time of the raid, Thao had not yet been charged with any crime, and she maintained that she had been told she was not a target of the investigation. In a defiant statement she said she had done nothing wrong and had no plans to resign.

Oakland voters recalled Thao on November 5, 2024. Final tallies put support for the recall at about 64 percent in favor and 36 percent opposed — the first successful mayoral recall in Oakland’s history. The vote came on the same ballot as the recall of Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, amid a broader statewide backlash against progressive officeholders.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

Reaction to the recall was sharply divided. Recalling critics, including the police union, blamed her on crime and what they called fiscal mismanagement; supporters pointed to a reduction in homicides and the closure of homeless encampments. The recall campaign had been heavily funded by hedge fund executive Philip Dreyfuss, whom Thao accused in an open letter of trying to buy the city government. In a statement acknowledging defeat, Thao said serving as mayor had been “an honor of a lifetime.”

City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas became interim mayor, and a special election in April 2025 was won by longtime U.S. Representative Barbara Lee.

The fallout intensified on January 17, 2025, when federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment naming Thao, her partner Andre Jones, and two local businessmen, Andy and David Duong, on charges of bribery, conspiracy, and mail and wire fraud. Prosecutors alleged a pay-to-play arrangement in which the city would renew its recycling contract with the Duongs’ company, Cal Waste Solutions, and purchase housing from a company the brothers co-owned, in exchange for the brothers funding negative mailers against Thao’s 2022 opponents and paying Jones for a no-show job. If convicted on all counts, each defendant faces up to 35 years in prison.

The indictment sent shockwaves through local politics. Defeated 2022 opponent Loren Taylor said he was angered, arguing Oaklanders had had “democracy stolen from them by this corruption.” A former campaign manager produced mailers at the federal courthouse that she said were paid for by the alleged scheme. Seneca Scott, a leader of the recall effort, said the federal charges validated the concerns he had raised. Even Barbara Lee, who had opposed the recall, wrote that the allegations were “devastating,” while noting that “every individual is entitled to constitutional protections and a presumption of innocence, but City Hall must never be for sale.” A former prosecutor told local media that all of the defendants might be exploring plea deals.

Current Status #

Thao left office on December 17, 2024, following certification of the recall results; Barbara Lee has since taken the mayor’s seat. Legally, Thao has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges, and her trial is expected to begin in October 2026. Her partner, Andre Jones, was also indicted on bribery charges in the same case. As of the sources reviewed, no conviction has been entered, and the presumption of innocence applies.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The recall ended Thao’s run as the first Hmong American mayor of a major U.S. city, a distinction that defined her rise and was quickly overshadowed by the corruption case. Her political trajectory ended when voters removed her in 2024. The federal bribery case now dominates her story, carrying potential prison sentences of up to 35 years if she is convicted on all counts. The case has become a widely cited example of a pay-to-play scandal in a major California city and has fueled broader debate about accountability, progressive governance, and the influence of money in local elections.