Candidate for
Council Member; City of Oakland; District 2

Patricia Kernighan has represented District 2 on the Oakland City Council since May 2005.

Prior to her election, Pat served for four years as Chief of Staff to former District 2 Councilmember Danny Wan, and for two years as a Legislative Aide to former District 2 Councilmember John Russo.

Pat Kernighan earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Washington. She holds a J.D. from the University of California Hastings College of the Law, and is a member of the California State Bar. Her work as an attorney included representing low income people at the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County.

Pat has lived in the Grandlake neighborhood for the last 27 years, where she and her husband Paul Gordon raised their two daughters, Hannah and Ariel. Pat was a longtime volunteer and advocate in Oakland public schools, and served on the Oakland Library Commission prior to joining the City Council staff.

Like many others, Pat loves Oakland+the cultural diversity, the great weather, and the awesome food. But the quality she especially cherishes about her city is her fellow Oaklanders+people with open minds and open hearts. It is great to live among people that value the diversity that is here and choose to live in a city among people who have different traditions and backgrounds.