EGN NEWS DESK
Former Representative Barbara Lee, a Bay Area progressive identified for her lonely opposition to the struggle in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 assaults and for her rise inside the House’s Democratic management, on Wednesday joined the race for mayor of Oakland, Calif.
She made the announcement in a video on social media simply days after she concluded a greater than two decade profession within the House, the place she was the highest-ranking Black lady appointed to Democratic management. Ms. Lee, 78, had declined to hunt re-election in an effort to run for a Senate seat, however she misplaced in that main final 12 months.
Grappling with excessive crime charges, homelessness and retailer closures, Oakland has had a rotating solid of mayors. The metropolis is on its second interim mayor since November, when voters eliminated Sheng Thao, its mayor of lower than two years, from workplace. A particular election can be held in April.
In the video, Ms. Lee promised to make use of her expertise as a legislator, small-business proprietor and longtime metropolis resident to create an “Oakland renaissance.”
“This is our second,” she mentioned. “This is our motion.”
Ms. Lee completed fourth in a crowded Senate main final May to fill the seat held by Senator Dianne Feinstein, who died in September 2023. She trailed Adam Schiff, her House Democratic colleague on the time, in addition to the previous baseball star Steve Garvey, a Republican, and Representative Katie Porter, one other House Democrat. Mr. Schiff gained the seat after he and Mr. Garvey superior to the November election underneath California’s open main system.
Ms. Lee’s first political job was engaged on Shirley Chisholm’s presidential marketing campaign in 1972, and he or she was elected to Congress in 1998. In 2001, Ms. Lee solid the lone vote in opposition to going to struggle in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 terrorist assaults, one of many defining moments of her political profession in Washington.
Even earlier than Ms. Lee introduced her run, a number of distinguished Oaklanders had been throwing their help behind her.
An open letter revealed in December calling for her to hitch the race was signed by locals who each opposed and supported the recall of Ms. Thao and have typically had differing views on tips on how to lead the struggling metropolis.
Among them was Nikki Fortunato Bas, a former member of the City Council who had served as interim mayor and had opposed the recall of Ms. Thao. She referred to as Ms. Lee “somebody who can construct belief in governments” and mentioned her means to work with Republicans could be invaluable.
“That negotiations expertise she has I feel goes to be actually vital by way of bringing collectively enterprise and labor and individuals who have differing views about the way you create safer communities — that’s an actual asset,” she mentioned.
Ms. Lee’s best opponent is prone to be Loren Taylor, a Democrat who narrowly misplaced to Ms. Thao in a ranked-choice vote in 2022.
In an interview on Wednesday, Mr. Taylor, who served on the Oakland City Council from 2019 to 2023, mentioned he seemed ahead to operating in opposition to and debating Ms. Lee within the coming months.
He mentioned he revered Ms. Lee’s a few years in Congress, however “that doesn’t change being on the bottom, rolling up sleeves, working with communities right here by way of Covid and dealing by way of public security challenges.”
The winner of the particular election will full Ms. Thao’s unfinished time period, which ends in January 2027.
