Hector Reyna - Oakland

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Hector Reyna (March 4, 1935 – October 23, 2008) was a political icon in Oakland, running repeatedly for political office but never winning a single race.

Born on March 4, 1935 in Texas, Reyna served in the Air Force during the Korean War. He moved to Oakland in 1955-1957 from Corpus Christi, Texas. He owned several businesses in Oakland over the years, including a recycling business ("Mr. Recycle") and a limousine company ("Millionaire Limousine") run by his daughter. After a disagreement with the City Council over an ordinance that affected one of his properties, he ran for Council in the mid-1960s and lost. A 1965 article about running for mayor lists Reyna as a "teamster and warehouseman, machinist, Democratic political organizer." ⁵

Over the years Mr. Reyna became a gadfly in the City Council, "to raise hell with those people." ¹ He also ran for office numerous other times over the years, including for city council; the BART board; the AC Transit board; the East Bay Regional Parks board; the California Senate; U.S. Congress, and against every mayor of Oakland for 25 years, from Lionel Wilson to Ron Dellums.

Campaign History

In 1962, Reyna ran for A.C. Transit District Director (at-large). Reyna received 4,946 votes vs. Robert M. Copeland's 127,892 votes. ¹⁰
In the 1965 Oakland mayoral campaign, Reyna ran against John C. Houlihan, A. N. MacFarlane, Paul Montauk, and Fred E. Reed. ⁵
In 1967, Reyna ran for city council against incumbent Fred Maggiora in District 5. ⁷ He received 11,700 votes vs. 49,750 votes for Maggiora. ⁸
In 1968, Reyna ran for the California State Assembly, District 16. ⁹
In 1976, Reyna ran against A.C. Transit District Director incumbent Ray Rinehart. There was some question whether Reyna was even a resident of the necessary A.C. Transit District in question. ⁶ Regardless, Reyna received 16,425 votes vs. Rinehart's 152,294 votes. ¹¹
In 1977, he ran for mayor (April 17, 1977 election)
In the 1981 Oakland mayoral campaign which was won by incumbent Lionel Wilson, Reyna came in second with 6,274 votes vs. 34,918 votes for Wilson, or about 13% of the vote. ³
In the 2002 U.S. House of Representatives race against incumbent Barbara Lee, Hector Reyna received 6 write-in votes. ⁴
In the 2006 Oakland mayoral campaign which was won by Ron Dellums, Reyna received 348 votes, or 0.4% of the votes. ²