Young Leads AC Transit Ward 3 Race; Syed Holds Wide Ward 4 Advantage
Joel Young led Adriana Valencia in early returns for AC Transit’s Ward 3 seat, while Sarah Syed held a much larger lead over Gabriel Morales in Ward 4. Alameda County’s results page lists Young at 23,953 votes, or 53.11%, to Valencia’s 21,144, or 46.89%.
By the Bay Area Brief staff · Edited by Seamus McKenna · · 2 min read
Eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge at night. Photo: Daniel L. Lu / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped, resized and color-graded). Archive photo of the area; not a photo of the events in this story.
Joel Young led Adriana Valencia in early returns for AC Transit’s Ward 3 seat, while Sarah Syed held a much larger lead over Gabriel Morales in Ward 4. Alameda County’s results page lists Young at 23,953 votes, or 53.11%, to Valencia’s 21,144, or 46.89%.
The same partial tally gives Syed 22,173 votes, or 78.37%, against Morales’s 6,120. The Oaklandside reported that many ballots remain uncounted and the next Alameda County tally is expected Friday, Nov. 6.
Ward 3 covers portions of Central Oakland along with Piedmont and Alameda. Young has served on the board since 2009 and previously held an at-large seat before the agency switched to a seven-ward map. These figures are leads, not certified outcomes.
The day's Bay Area housing, business and neighborhood news, plus the world headlines that matter, in one short email. Free, and you can unsubscribe anytime.
We use your email only to send the Brief. Details in our privacy policy.
Five of AC Transit's seven board seats are on the Nov. 3 ballot, including two in Oakland. In Ward 3, longtime director Joel Young faces product manager Adriana Valencia; in Ward 4, incumbent Sarah Syed faces teacher Gabriel Morales. Bus reliability and the regional transit tax dominate both races.
Unofficial Nov. 9 returns showed Adriana Valencia leading longtime AC Transit director Joel Young 50.77% to 49.23% in Ward 3. Valencia declared victory. The results are not yet certified.
An independent investigator found Young's unwanted touching of fellow director Sarah Syed broke the bus agency's gender-based harassment policy. A board majority has defended him, and no discipline hearing is scheduled.
An independent investigation found Young's bear hug of Syed at a 2025 meeting violated the agency's gender-based harassment policy. A letter from 33 officials hasn't changed the board majority's position.
AC Transit will detour eight bus lines and Tempo Line 1T through downtown Oakland from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, while Broadway between 14th and 17th Streets is closed for the Black Panther Party Boulevard ribbon cutting. Several Broadway and Uptown Transit Center stops will be closed; riders should use the listed alternate stops near 12th Street BART and City Center.
