Well, Ron Dellums made the only decision he could have sensibly made Wednesday and announced that he wouldn’t try to win a second term as Oakland’s mayor. As of Wednesday, there were 10 candidates who took nomination papers from the City Clerk’s office with the hope of following Dellums as Oakland’s mayor.

As much as we don’t like to admit it, even at the local level money plays a huge role in elections. Here in Oakland, we’ve limited the amount candidates can raise and spend on elections. Each candidate for mayor can spend up to $370,000, or around $0.70 for every resident. Terence Candell, who just submitted his signatures and became an official candidate Wednesday, said he barely has $10,000 now. He said it takes people to win an election. True, but it also takes money. Here’s the cash on hand for mayoral candidates who’ve reported contributions to the City Clerk.

• Jean Quan:  $175,795

• Don Perata:  $171,554

• Rebecca Kaplan:  $25,000

• Joe Tuman’s campaign manager said that he hopes to report the size of his war chest by Friday.