East Bay Rep. Barbara Lee is running unopposed in the June primary. But five candidates, including the owner of a popular Oakland adult shop, have qualified as official write-in candidates. Two other East Bay primary contests featuring unopposed incumbents also attracted official write-in candidates.
Nina Feelmore, the owner of Feelmore Adult Gallery on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, said she became a write-in candidate for Lee’s 13th Congressional District seat not out of any opposition to the incumbent’s progressive stances, but as a protest of mainstream politics.
“This isn’t about Barbara Lee,” said Feelmore, “This is about the future of politics, and Ms. Lee is going to retire at some time.” Feelmore, whose given name is Neena Joiner (also accepted by the registrar as a qualified name), was a delegate from the district to the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
“We’re going to have to do things different,” she said of the state of political discourse. “Music has changed. Television has changed. Politics needs to change. It’s also about not being lazy and not taking votes for granted.”
Curiously, four other write-in candidates qualified in Lee’s race, including Republican Jeanna Solnordal, Green Party Laura Wells, American Independent Vincent May, Libertarian Party James Eyer.
Voters can certainly write-in whatever name they want on their ballots, but only candidates who are certified by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters will be counted when the results are tabulated Tuesday night.
Despite, discussions among some Oakland progressives for qualifying a protest challenger to opposed Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern on June 5, none surfaced, according to the registrar’s list. Ahern does not have an official opponent next Tuesday.
Twentieth District Assemblymember Bill Quirk is running unopposed for the first time since his election in 2012. The Alameda County Republican Party’s Joseph Grcar is a certified write-in candidate. In roughly the same area, Alameda County District 2 Supervisor Richard Valle is also unopposed this June. Elizabeth Ames is the write-in candidate.
View the entire list, along with variations of each name accepted by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.
ebcitizen.com 
Last paragraph: Meant: country, versus county.
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Such a shame. No Republican, Green or Libertarian official opponent, on the ballot.
You kind of get what it means when politicians start running unopposed? Sound like any other hellish countries we know? Same situation for Rep. Jackie Speiers (San Mateo), Zeo Lofgren (San Jose), Jimmy Panetta (Monterrey). It is way, not good, for either party, to have an incumbent running unopposed. Period.
As President Johnson used to say, something to the affect of: In American, people get exactly the type of government they deserve.
Ms. Lee is a disgrace on too many issue to even review here. She is part of the Farrakhan (videos of her hugging him), Keith Ellison part of the (D) party, trying to move us toward lite-Socialism. God Help Us! She got it right on the Iraq war. It was long ago, but that was a “once in a lifetime” good vote.
Sadly, she won her race on March 9th, when the ballot was finalized. In one of the most prosperous, diverse, intellectual areas of the county (Berkeley), it really is not supposed to work that way.
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