CORRECTED: Gee, Hoxie Lead In Orinda City Council Race

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story inadvertently had the wrong number of votes listed for Cara Hoxie and Candace Evans, reporting Evans in second place. Patch regrets this mistake and has made the appropriate changes.

ORINDA, CA —It appears Orinda will keep its all-female City Council.

There were two seats open and a field of three candidates in Tuesday's Orinda City Council election.

Incumbent and current Orinda Mayor Darlene Gee appeared to have garnered the most votes and will likely retain her seat.

The latest results available were published at 1:05 a.m. Wednesday and showed Gee with 5,940 votes (45.60 percent).

Cara Hoxie, current president of the Orinda school board, was not far behind with 5,562 votes (42.70 percent). Hoxie will likely secure the seat being vacated by Inga Miller, who served three terms.

Candace Evans, a legislative recorder for the city of Oakland, trailed with 1,513 votes (11.61 percent). Unless there are significant changes as more votes are counted, it does not appear Evans will serve on the City Council this time around.

The tally represented 8,839 of 15,300 ballots cast by Orinda voters, or about 57.77 percent. The number of vote-by-mail ballots counted was 7,931, compared to 908 cast in person on Election Day.

Gee, the mayor for 2024, told The Orinda News about her priorities. She also remarked on the city's most significant challenges this year.

"My priorities are recruiting and retaining good staff, spending our tax dollars effectively and growing and changing our city in a positive way, including a continued focus on fire prevention.

"Specifically in terms of staffing, I want to prioritize finding ways to maintain high-caliber staffing, because our residents have high expectations – and deservedly so. It’s just always challenging to find talented people in today’s world and in a small city.

"Through Plan Orinda, we’re making provisions for changes in the community. Some people are really excited about that and others less so. But the reality is one way or the other, change is going to occur over time. We have to both fulfill obligations that are put on us by the state and navigate the process so we’re responding to what Orindans want."

Evans, who has lived in Orinda for more than six years, would have brought diversity to the City Council. She is African American and a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

According to The Orinda News:

"Evans brings diversity to Orinda and to the City Council race. Currently a legislative recorder for the City of Oakland, Evans also serves as an appointed advocate for the Contra Costa Advisory Council On Aging. She recognizes the values, contributions and challenges of Orinda’s aging community. Born in Greenville, South Carolina, Evans understands the workings of a city like Orinda and can provide significant insights in a role on the City Council."

Hoxie is a lifelong resident of Orinda and currently serves as the president of the Orinda school board. Here is what she told The Orinda News:

" I would like to see some improvement in our downtown. Many of our commercial buildings are aging or empty. It is exciting to see the progress on the former Bank of America building, but there is so much more we could do.

"I’d like to see more restaurants and small businesses thrive in Orinda. I want to meet with the many property owners to better understand the impediments they experience in trying to revitalize their properties.

"It would be wonderful to make the creek that runs through downtown Orinda accessible.

"I would also love to see some EV charging in Orinda."

Read more about the candidates here.

Scroll below to see the latest results for Tuesday's general election from the Contra Costa County Registrar of Voters Office.