Oakland Voters Say ‘Barbara Lee Speaks For Me!’

Former Congresswoman Barbara Lee will now add mayor to her list of resume. Despite early results showing Lee trailing, the organizer turned congresswoman closed the deal. Several outlets, including the San Francisco Chronicle, called the race late Friday evening after results showed Lee winning by approximately 5,000 votes. 

Lee announced her candidacy in early January after a recall of the prior mayor. Local elections often follow different rules and even schedules than the traditional federal election calendar but often an opportunity to have a direct impact on our communities and lives. In Oakland, voters used ranked choice voting requiring a strategic play to ensure a candidate comes out on top after the votes across multiple rounds are tallied. 

Attempts to frame Lee as a once “progressive outsider” turned establishment choice fail to understand the broad cross-section of support and respect she has garnered over her career in public service. For many, including this writer, Lee has been a symbol of principled dissent and the epitome of the phrase “speaking truth to power.” Lee was the lone member of Congress to speak out against the authorization of war given to then-President George W. Bush just days after 9/11. 

Lee, who got her start as a young organizer with the Black Panther Party, worked for two of the most formidable Black legislators in modern history, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm and Congressman Ron Delums. Despite her long career in political office, Lee has consistently grounded her work in connection, community, and a commitment to justice and equity. While yet to be seen what Mayor Barbara Lee can do to uplift Oakland, her leadership is a bright light given the current political moment. 

In a statement Friday evening, Lee said she remained encouraged by the election results but stopped short of declaring victory. Forever an organizer, Lee highlighted the community support garnered by her campaign, including over 800 personal and organizational endorsements reflecting a broad coalition. In the past three months, the campaign organized 71 house parties and neighborhood events and over 10,000 voter pledges called BLEE yeses who were turned out to vote through various community GOTV efforts. 

“I decided to run for Mayor, knowing that Oakland is a deeply divided City—and I ran to unite our community,” Lee stated. “We worked hard every day to earn every vote!  Thanks to you, in our 100-day campaign, our Faith, Labo,r and Business Coalition and over 500 Oakland volunteers focused on personally engaging voters in every corner of Oakland.” 

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