Former congresswoman Barbara Lee launches run for Oakland mayor

OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) — Former congresswoman Barbara Lee announced Wednesday she will run for mayor of Oakland after serving 27 years in the House of Representatives. The decision confirms widespread rumorscirculating since mid-December that the ex-lawmaker would run for what the San Francisco Chronicle called “the toughest political job in America.”

“Look, they say Oakland is a mess. I hear this all the time. Our problems are too large to be solved,” Lee said in a video on her new mayoral campaign website. “They say that we’re a city divided. But let’s show them we are one Oakland.“Lee’s announcement makes her the frontrunner in a race where Oakland stands at a critical point in its history. After an unprecedented recall of its previous mayor — whose home was raided by the FBI — Oakland is coping with $130 million in budget cuts, the loss of the Oakland A’s baseball team and its worst crime surge in years.

The news comes just days after Lee signaled a strong interest in the job by opening a campaign account on Monday to run for mayor in Oakland’s special election in April.

“I will be a hands-on mayor who will address the structural challenges that impact everything from our budget to whether we can walk our streets safely at night,” Lee declared in a statement.

In December, a group of the city’s top politicians and business leaders penned an an open letter urging Lee to end Oakland’s “crisis of leadership.”

“Our city needs someone who can restore integrity to the office of the mayor, unite us in a time of division, and help us address critical issues around the budget, public safety, housing, and inequity in our Town,” the group said.In November, voters approved a historic recall of Mayor Sheng Thao, a Democrat and criminal justice reform advocate, over criticisms she didn’t enforce city policies on homeless encampments, stood by while businesses shuttered due to increased crime, and left the police department without a police chieffor over a year.

Thao left the office in mid-December.

Lee opposed the recall effort, calling it “undemocratic,” in a statement via X.

Since the recall, Oakland has been juggling interim mayors as it waits to elect a new public leader. Former City Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas first took the position until she left to join the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in early January. For now, the position is held by Councilmember Kevin Jenkins.Barbara Lee is a well known figure in Bay Area politics and a strong contender in the race for mayor. Born in 1946 and raised in Texas, the future lawmaker graduated from University of California Berkeley in 1975 with a master’s degree in social work. As a student, Lee became politically involved with the Oakland chapter of the Black Panther Party and worked in the campaign of Representative Shirley Chisholm, whom she credits as her inspiration to run for office.Elected to the House in 1998, Lee entered the national stage as the only member of Congress to vote against the authorization of force following the September 11 attacks. Since then, she has remained a popular figure in progressive circles, and has been nicknamed “O.G.” by some younger lawmakers.

Lee opted not to run for reelection to the House in 2024, instead throwing her hat into the race for the U.S. Senate seat left by Dianne Feinstein, who died in 2023. She was knocked out of the race during the primary.

Lee is running to serve the rest of Thao’s remaining term, which ends in 2026.

“She’s the clear front-runner, but she will have to run a campaign,” Jim Ross, a veteran Democratic strategist not involved in the campaign, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “She’ll still have to get out and talk to voters and lay out her plans and her vision. But I think anybody currently in the race will have a really hard time getting traction and running against her.”

At a time when so many of the city’s greatest issues hang in the balance, the next mayor of Oakland could shape the town for years to come.

Oakland is the most populous city in the East Bay and a major economy of the San Francisco Bay Area. Besides its vibrant arts and culture scene, the city’s port alone loads and discharges more than 99% of the containerized goods moving through Northern California, representing tens ofbillions in trade.