OAKLAND, California — Oakland might have been in bad shape when Mayor Sheng Thao was elected to lead it two years ago, but her critics claim she has driven what was left of it into the ground.

Businesses are suffering, retail theft is on the rise, and drugs are being used out in the open. There’s also a massive homelessness problem, corruption allegations, and concerns about her business acumen on a near-daily basis. Then, there’s the summer scandal that involved an FBI raid at her house, her disappearance from the public eye during a time of crisis, a prickly relationship with law enforcement, a looming budget crisis, and the departure of the Oakland Athletics baseball team under her watch.