Progressive icon and former U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee declared victory Saturday as the brand new mayor of troubled Oakland, a San Francisco Bay Space metropolis reeling from financial stagnation, crime and homelessness.
Lee issued a press release Saturday as mayor-elect, saying that her chief opponent, Loren Taylor, had referred to as to concede the April 15 race.
“Whereas I consider strongly in respecting the democratic voting course of and ballots will proceed to be counted … the outcomes are clear that the individuals of Oakland have elected me as your subsequent Mayor,” she mentioned. “Thanks, Oakland!”
Lee, 78, is a Black feminine trailblazer who represented the town in Congress for over 20 years earlier than retiring final 12 months after operating unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate.
“Oakland is a deeply divided Metropolis,” she mentioned, including that she “answered the decision to run” so the group may work collectively to resolve its issues.
Lee was endorsed by former Gov. Jerry Brown and different earlier Oakland mayors who mentioned she was the seasoned, uniting presence the town wanted after a divisive recall of former Mayor Sheng Thao in November. Thao was indicted on federal bribery, fraud and conspiracy prices in January.
Oakland has about 400,000 residents and is deeply liberal and multicultural, the birthplace of the Black Panther Social gathering and claimed by former Vice President Kamala Harris as her hometown.
However Oakland is also reeling from homeless tents, public drug use, unlawful sideshows, gun violence and brazen robberies that prompted In-N-Out Burger to shut its first location ever final 12 months.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has despatched California Freeway Patrol officers to assist fight what he referred to as an alarming and unacceptable rise in crime. And the town doesn’t find the money for to pay for public providers.
Regardless of her excessive title recognition, the race was surprisingly heated with Taylor, 47, a former Oakland metropolis council member who pledged to bolster police, scale back crime and revitalize the town’s economic system.
Taylor mentioned in a press release that “whereas the end result was not what we labored for and hoped for,” he was happy with the marketing campaign and the daring concepts he launched.
On the marketing campaign path, Lee emphasised the necessity for extra group providers in addition to extra police. Financial growth, job creation and guaranteeing core metropolis providers like hearth hydrants work correctly are amongst her priorities.
She is going to end out the rest of Thao’s time period and can be up for reelection in November 2026.
Lee was first elected to the U.S. Home in 1998 and have become greatest identified nationally as the one lawmaker to vote towards the 2001 authorization for using army drive in response to the Sept. 11 assaults.
