Rebecca Kaplan

Rebecca Dawn Kaplan (born September 17, 1970) is a Canadian-born American attorney, rabbi and politician who served as an at-large member of the Oakland City Council from 2009 to 2025, and served as interim City Council Member for District 2 from January to April 2025, filling Nikki Fortunato Bas' vacant seat. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Born in Toronto, Ontario and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Kaplan has degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, and Stanford University. She moved to Oakland in the 1990s, where she served as a legislative aide and housing rights attorney. After an unsuccessful run for Oakland City Council in 2000, Kaplan was appointed to and later elected to an at-large seat on the AC Transit Board of Directors in 2002.

Kaplan was elected to an at-large seat on the Oakland City Council in 2008. She was the youngest and first openly LGBTQ+ member of the Oakland City Council. She unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2010 and 2014 and has served one stint as council president and two stints as vice mayor.

Early life, education, and career Rebecca Kaplan was born on September 17, 1970, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was raised in Hamilton, Ontario, and attended the Hamilton Hebrew Academy and the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto. According to Kapalan, her childhood was marked by stories of social justice and workers' rights, which inspired her to pursue a career in public service.

Kaplan moved to the United States in the 1980s to attend college. She has a bachelor of science in psychology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where, as an undergraduate student, she participated in a group that led the school to divest from apartheid in South Africa and adopt sexual non-discrimination policies. She was also awarded an academic honor from Phi Beta Kappa. She later earned a master of arts in urban and environmental policy from Tufts University and a juris doctor from Stanford University.

Kaplan got her start in politics by volunteering on Ted Kennedy's re-election campaign in 1994. After moving to Oakland in the mid-1990s, Kaplan became a legislative aide in the California State Assembly. She later worked for Prisoner Legal Services and practiced law as a housing rights attorney and as a labor attorney with the San Francisco-based firm Altshuler Berzon. but was a Green when elected to the AC Transit Board in 2002 and 2006. She joined the Democratic Party in 2008.

Political career

AC Transit Board of Directors Following the resignation of board president Matt Williams in 2002, Kaplan was appointed to his at-large seat on the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit Board of Directors. She served the remainder of Williams' term and was elected to a term in her own right later that year.

As an AC Transit director, Kaplan expanded late-night bus services, improved opportunities for walking and biking, and helped the district bring in its first hydrogen fuel cell buses. Fearing that residents would experience a chilling effect from the incident and would be less willing to call on police for support, Kaplan proposed a resolution upholding the city's sanctuary city status by stipulating that the Oakland Police Department be prevented from colluding and assisting with ICE. The resolution passed unanimously. The city argued it was not given a real opportunity to buy the county's share of the land, despite Oakland not having adequate money to purchase the site. The plan the Athletics put forward includes major revitalization projects at both the Howard Terminal and Coliseum sites, including the construction of affordable housing, restaurants, retail, small business space and public gathering spaces.

Due to the abrupt nature of the lawsuit and the fact that the plan was backed by city leaders, Athletics president Dave Kaval said the team was "completely blindsided" and "very disappointed" by the city's lawsuit.

2022 Alameda County supervisor election Kaplan was a candidate for the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in the 3rd district. She placed first during the primary and advanced to a runoff with former Alameda vice mayor Lena Tam. In November 2022, Kaplan lost the election to Lena Tam.

Personal life Kaplan came out at age 16. She is bisexual, a lesbian, and gender nonconforming.

Kaplan is Jewish.