OUSD candidate Mike Hutchinson asks Alameda Co. court to declare him winner in District 4 race

ByRyan Curry KGO logo

Saturday, January 7, 2023

OUSD candidate Hutchinson asks Alameda Co. court to declare him winner

Oakland Unified School Board candidate Mike Hutchinson filed a lawsuit this week to get Alameda Court to declare him a winner in the District 4 race.

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Oakland Unified School Board candidate Mike Hutchinson filed a lawsuit this week to get Alameda Court to declare him a winner in the District 4 race. This comes after the Alameda County Registrar's office said there was an issue with how it counted results with ranked choice voting. Hutchinson says the new results make him the winner and not Nick Resnick.

"We have now filed in Alameda County Superior Court, requesting that a judge throw out the incorrect certification," Hutchinson said. "The correct election results, which would make me the winner of Oakland School Board District 4."

The results from the recent election are already certified. Those certified results show Resnick as the winner. At this point, in order for the results to change, a judge needs to rule in favor of Hutchinson.

"We voted to use ranked-choice voting," Hutchinson said. "The city has laid out the process and formula that is supposed to be used to calculate that, and that is now what has been corrected to produce these results."

The Alameda County Registrar's Office said the ranked-choice voting system was not configured properly. They said the OUSD race was the only one affected by the issue. The registrar's office has not said if Hutchinson is now the winner.

The issue now is a matter of timing. Newly elected Oakland officials will be sworn into office on Monday -- including Resnick. OUSD is also set to have its first board meeting Wednesday. Resnick has not mentioned if he plans on conceding the race. In a statement posted on his website, he said:

"We question the validity and integrity of the revised results provided by the Registrar. If there were mistakes the first time, there is also a chance there are mistakes the second time. The initial election results were vetted through the County and State processes to ensure accuracy, and no errors were noted."

Both sides have mentioned they will let this issue play out in court.