OAKLAND, California — Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee mentioned Friday she’s going to announce in early January whether or not she plans to run for mayor of Oakland as the town holds a particular election following the recall of its final mayor.
Lee, who leaves Congress early subsequent yr, tweeted that she is contemplating operating — the primary official affirmation that she may vie to steer the turbulent Bay Space metropolis following months of hypothesis about her intentions.
“The choice to run for mayor of Oakland, a metropolis that I’ve lengthy referred to as house, just isn’t one I take flippantly,” Lee posted. “As my time in Congress wraps up, my present precedence is navigating the disaster earlier than us in DC,” Lee mentioned, referring to efforts to avert a authorities shutdown.
Lee, a nationwide progressive icon recognized for being the lone member of Congress to vote towards the warfare in Afghanistan, would instantly be the frontrunner within the race, and her candidacy may trigger different progressives to clear the sector.
Lee’s candidacy may create a headache for reasonable activists and donors keen to place a extra centrist Democrat on the helm of Metropolis Corridor — an effort to repeat the political shift underway throughout the Bay in San Francisco, as tech-funded teams nudge the famously liberal metropolis nearer to the middle.
Voters in Oakland, a metropolis reeling from a deep funds deficit and a gun-violence epidemic, recalled former Mayor Sheng Thao within the November election, largely over their frustrations with dysfunction inside Metropolis Corridor. The recall effort was bankrolled by reasonable advocacy teams and rich tech donors who wish to transfer the deep-blue metropolis in a extra centrist route.
A particular election to fill the seat is scheduled for April 15 and can make the most of the town’s ranked-choice voting system.
Loren Taylor, a former metropolis councilmember and reasonable Democrat, is already operating and would possible be Lee’s hardest competitors. In the meantime, Marshawn Lynch, a former NFL operating again, has hinted he’s additionally contemplating leaping into the race, although he hasn’t made any bulletins.
Earlier this yr, Lee unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate, handedly dropping the first to fellow Democrat Adam Schiff. In that contest, Lee struggled to boost the thousands and thousands of {dollars} wanted to mount a statewide marketing campaign and struggled to enchantment to voters outdoors her progressive base.
However these weak spots could possibly be far much less of a hurdle for Lee if she runs for mayor in Oakland, the place she’s a family title and extra intently aligned with voters’ liberal politics on points just like the warfare in Gaza and police accountability.
Lee had beforehand expressed occupied with serving as Housing and City Growth secretary in a Kamala Harris’ administration earlier than the vice chairman misplaced the election.
