Emeryville Councilman John Bauters increased his lead over Oakland Councilwoman Nikki Fortunato Bas on Tuesday in the race for Alameda County District 5 supervisor.

Bauters and Bas were facing off to fill the seat held by veteran Supervisor Keith Carson, who announced his retirement in December.

Bas and Bauters emerged from the March primaries as the the two most voted to represent the districtincluding North, West and Central Oakland, Piedmont, Emeryville, Berkeley and Albany.

There’s a lot the candidates agree on, both promoting successes around affordable housing in their cities and promising to revive a county housing bond measure. They support oversight of the sheriff’s office and protection of tenants in the unincorporated area of ​​the county. But they have debated their respective records, and the race was one of the first in this local election to turn negative.

Each of the candidates has a history of working in public service, advocacy and organizing.

Bas is halfway through her second term representing District 2 on the Oakland City Council, where her colleagues elected her president. She is a Filipino American, a resident of Oakland for 27 years, and noted that she would be the first woman in the D5 seat if elected.

In the 1990s, Bas organized Chinese immigrant garment workers and led an anti-sweatshop organization. She later served as executive director of advocacy nonprofits. Association for working families and the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy. Bas said his run for county office is a natural extension of his career-long focus on supporting underserved communities.

Bas’s campaign literature has focused on his support for women, abortion rights and victims of sexual violence, aligning with a major issue for Democrats in the national elections. In a campaign ad, she tells her story of being sexually assaulted in college.

Bauters first moved west from Michigan to escape the hostility he faced as a young gay man in a rural, conservative town, he said. He experienced homelessness and housing insecurity along the way. Bauters, who has a law degree, subsequently worked in outreach and legal advocacy for both homeless residents and public housing tenants in the Midwest. He also worked on housing policy in California. He said his career path and candidacy for a position on the Board of Supervisors stems from his personal experience accessing the types of services the county offers.

Bauters worked in the Alliance for security and justicean advocacy organization for criminal justice reform and victim support, for nine years until she left in September to campaign full-time. Public safety is the focus of his campaign, which comes as the local conversation has coalesced around the issue in this election and the county’s district attorney faces recall.

Both Bas and Bauters promised to actively engage with the community if elected, holding town halls and listening sessions. Both currently spend time in regional bodies beyond their cities, with Bas serving on the Association of Bay Area Governments executive board and Bauters on the Alameda County Transportation Commission.

Both candidates have received high-profile endorsements, including outgoing Supervisor Keith Carson’s endorsement of Bauters and front-runner Congressional candidate Lateefah Simon’s endorsement of Bas.