It saw the election of Libby Schaaf, who unseated incumbent mayor Jean Quan.

The election was held using instant-runoff voting Four years prior, Jean Quan had won what was regarded to have been a surprise victory.

[2][3] Many challengers filed to unseat Quan in 2014, the best-known names being City Council members Rebecca Kaplan and Libby Schaaf; political science professor, former television commentator, and 2010 mayoral candidate Joe Tuman, City Auditor Courtney Ruby; former Port of Oakland Commissioner Bryan Parker; and civil rights lawyer Dan Siegel.

The following table shows how votes were counted in a series of rounds of instant runoffs.

Voters were allowed to mark only three choices because of voting system limitations.