Patricia (Pat) Kernighan, a politician and a lawyer, was a District 2 city council member in Oakland, California until 2014, noted for her advocacy of instant run-off voting in city elections.

Biography

Kerninghan, a native of rural

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanfor ...

state, received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...

in 1973 from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

and a law degree in 1977 from the

University of California, Hastings College of the Law The University of California, Hastings College of the Law (UC Hastings) is a Public university, public Law school in the United States, law school in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1878 by Serranus Clinton Hastings, UC Hastings was the ...

.Jonathan Wafer, ''Oakland Daily Planet,'' June 5, 2008
/ref> In Seattle, Washington, while a college student in the 1970s, Kernighan was a member of the Feminist Coordinating Council, an organization that proposed a city ordinance to establish a commission on crimes against women and a protection unit. She was admitted to the

California State Bar The State Bar of California is California's official attorney licensing agency. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, prescribing appropriate disciplin ...

in December 1977.

Career

She was a legislative aide to Councilmember John Russo and later was chief of staff to Councilmember Danny Wan from 2000 until his resignation in 2005. She was elected to the

Oakland City Council The Oakland City Council is an elected governing body representing the City of Oakland, California. Since 1998, Oakland has had a mayor-council government. The mayor is elected for a four-year term. The Oakland City Council has eight council memb ...

in 2005 and reelected in a 2006 election against challenger

Aimee Allison Aimee Allison (born 1969) is the Founder of She the People, a national network elevating the political power of women of color. She the People In March 2018, Allison founded She the People to activate and mobilize women of color across the country ...

. In 2010, she defeated Jen Pae to win a third term. Abel J. Guillen succeeded Kernighan in 2014.

Positions

Voting system

In 2006, Kernighan co-authored a measure to implement

instant-runoff voting Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a type of ranked preferential voting method. It uses a majority voting rule in single-winner elections where there are more than two candidates. It is commonly referred to as ranked-choice voting (RCV) in the Un ...

in Oakland, and voters approved the measure in November 2006,. Oakland began using the voting system in its November 2010 elections for mayor, three city council races and four other local offices.

Lake Merritt renovation

Kernighan co-authored a measure to fund major park renovations around Oakland's

Lake Merritt Lake Merritt is a large tidal lagoon in the center of Oakland, California, just east of Downtown Oakland, Downtown. It is surrounded by parkland and city neighborhoods. It is historically significant as the United States' first official wildlife ...

. The measure passed in 2002.NBC (May 7, 2010
Lake Merritt Is Set to Get Prettier
/ref>

Personal life

She is married to Paul Gordon and has two grown daughters.

References

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External links

at Oakland City Council
Membership listing, the State Bar of California
* 2011 - ''KAWL News'
Interview with Councilmember Kernighan
following Police Chief Anthony Brooks' resignation.(accessed 2 Feb 12) * (May 5, 2010.

* McLean, Kate (July 18, 2010). ttps://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/us/18bcmarijuana.html?pagewanted=2&ref=us&src=mv "Proposal for Marijuana Factories Prompts a Battle for Control."''The New York Times''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kernighan, Patricia Living people Oakland City Council members Year of birth missing (living people) University of California, Hastings College of the Law alumni University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni Women city councillors in California People from Washington (state) 21st-century American women