Former Congresswoman Barbara Lee trails in Oakland mayor election, but race still too close to call

Oakland's special mayoral election remained too close to call Thursday with former Congresswoman Barbara Lee, considered an early front-runner, now slightly behind in second place.

Former City Council member Loren Taylor as of Wednesday night held a slight lead over Lee, who when in Congress was considered among the most progressive members of the House Democratic Conference.

The special election Tuesday was triggered by the recall of Mayor Sheng Thao after she was indicted by a federal grand jury on bribery and corruption charges in January.

 The next vote tally in the race is not expected until Friday.

As of Wednesday morning, Taylor had 51.17% of the vote after nine rounds of ranked-choice voting. Lee was in second place with 48.83% of the vote. 

"We're feeling good about where we are, and we're cautiously optimistic that things will stay with what we've seen, and we'll maintain the advantage in the next update," Taylor said, according to an NBC News affiliate.

Lee acknowledged to supporters that it was going to be a "long week."