Progressive icon and former U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee declared victory Saturday as the new mayor of troubled Oakland, a San Francisco Bay Area city reeling from economic stagnation, crime and homelessness.
Lee issued a statement Saturday as mayor-elect, saying that her chief opponent, Loren Taylor, had called to concede the April 15 race.
“While I believe strongly in respecting the democratic voting process and ballots will continue to be counted … the results are clear that the people of Oakland have elected me as your next Mayor,” she said. “Thank you, Oakland!”
Lee, 78, is a Black female trailblazer who represented the city in Congress for over two decades before retiring last year after running unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate.
“Oakland is a deeply divided City,” she said, adding that she “answered the call to run” so the community could work together to solve its problems.
Lee was endorsed by former Gov. Jerry Brown and other previous Oakland mayors who said she was the seasoned, uniting presence the city needed after a divisive recall of former Mayor Sheng Thao in November. Thao was indicted on federal bribery, fraud and conspiracy charges in January.
Oakland has about 400,000 residents and is deeply liberal and multicultural, the birthplace of the Black Panther Party and claimed by former Vice President Kamala Harris as her hometown.
But Oakland also is reeling from homeless tents, public drug use, illegal sideshows, gun violence and brazen robberies that prompted In-N-Out Burger to close its first location ever last year.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has sent California Highway Patrol officers to help combat what he called an alarming and unacceptable rise in crime. And the city doesn’t have enough money to pay for public services.
Despite her high name recognition, the race was surprisingly heated with Taylor, 47, a former Oakland city council member who pledged to bolster police, reduce crime and revitalize the city’s economy.
Taylor said in a statement that “while the outcome was not what we worked for and hoped for,” he was proud of the campaign and the bold ideas he introduced.
On the campaign trail, Lee emphasized the need for more community services as well as more police. Economic development, job creation and ensuring core city services like fire hydrants work properly are among her priorities.
She will finish out the remainder of Thao’s term and would be up for reelection in November 2026.
Lee was first elected to the U.S. House in 1998 and became best known nationally as the only lawmaker to vote against the 2001 authorization for the use of military force in response to the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.