Loren Taylor defeated Oakland City Councilwoman Desley Brooks in the latter’s bid for re-election Tuesday, ending the incumbent’s 16-year term in office after a series of recent scandals.

Taylor, a nonprofit leader and businessman, secured 61.5 percent of the vote, while 38.5 percent went to Brooks.

The road to victory was determined by Taylor’s coalition of support through ranked-choice voting. In the ranked-choice system, voters select up to three candidates in order of preference. If no one receives a majority, the last-place candidate is eliminated and his or her votes are redistributed to the second choice on those ballots. The process continues until someone reaches a majority.

Brooks championed police accountability, job training and racial equity programs, particularly in the city’s cannabis permit system. But her combativeness wasn’t limited to fierce exchanges on the council dais. Her assault on former Black Panther leader Elaine Brown at a downtown restaurant in 2015 cost the city $2.2 million this year.

An Alameda County Superior Court judge found Brooks repeatedly lied under oath in the case — a finding Brooks has denied. Last month, she filed a claim against the city, alleging the city attorney’s office did not adequately defend her against Brown’s lawsuit.

Brooks’ four challengers said the community deserves better and promised to bring more opportunity, city investment and affordable housing to the East Oakland district.

The city and Brooks now are fighting another lawsuit, this time from a former aide to the councilwoman. The complaint alleges Brooks ordered the staffer to collect money from vendors of a farmer’s market that she helped establish and deliver the cash payments directly to her and her sister’s boyfriend with no proper accounting.

The suit also described episodes of alleged emotional and physical abuse by Brooks.

In District Four, which covers the hilly, northeastern region of the city, Sheng Thao beat out a seven-person field to replace Annie Campbell Washington. Thao, chief of staff for Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, won 53.6 percent of the vote after going through the ranked-choice process, and Pam Harris finished second with 46.4 percent.

Campbell Washington did not seek a second term after saying she was frustrated by “antics and corruption that exist with some members of the City Council.”

She endorsed Harris, a financial consultant for nonprofit organizations.

In District Two, which covers a swath of neighborhoods surrounding Lake Merritt, incumbent Abel Guillén lost to challenger Nikki Fortunato Bas, who took 51 percent of the vote to Guillén’s 42.4.

Bob Egelko and Kimberly Veklerov are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com begelko@sfchronicle.com