Democrats Lateefah Simon, Dr. Jennifer Tran vying for congressional seat long held by Rep. Barbara Lee
Two Democrats are facing off this Election Day, trying to win an East Bay congressional seat that has been held by its incumbent for more than 25 years.
Lateefah Simon and Dr. Jennifer Tran are both vying for California's 12th Congressional District. It's a district that includes Oakland and its bordering cities and has been represented by Representative Barbara Lee since 1998. Lee is not running for reelection, opening the door for these two new candidates.
Simon is looked at as the party establishment's first pick. Lee herself has thrown her support behind Simon's campaign.
It's something Simon takes a lot of pride in.
"Barbara Lee pushed me to run for this seat. As somebody who has mentored me for over 20 years, she was my professor at Mills College right here in Oakland. And she has an amazing legacy that I am working so hard to step into," said Simon.
Simon highlights her decades of experience as a local community organizer, advocate, and more recently member of BART's Board of Directors, as her qualifications for the congressional seat.
She says she already has relationships with many politicians, from the local to the state and federal level. She has known Vice President Kamala Harris for years and worked as a surrogate for Harris's campaign throughout this election.
She says if elected, she'll use those relationships to get aid and resources back to the local community.
"People in my district, they want to feel safe. They want to be able to afford a place to live and they're sick of the mud slinging and the bickering from local leaders. So as a national leader, when I get to Congress, having a table where we really push folks to sit down who have decision making power and get it together so that we can move forward as a region. Our people deserve it," said Simon.
Simon's opponent is Dr. Jennifer Tran, an Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at Cal State East Bay. She's also the President of the Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce.
Tran is very much running as the anti-establishment candidate in this race, saying the reason she decided to run for the seat is because she's been unhappy with how current leaders are governing.
"Every other city around us is thriving. And why is that? It has to do with again the poor choices that our leaders have made and when I saw that this very important seat opened up with Representative Barbara Lee running for U.S. Senate, I just thought this would be a really great opportunity for our communities to have fresh, bold leaders bringing us into the future," said Dr. Tran.
Tran says her priorities are public safety and transparency. She says if elected to Congress, she would work to pass what she called the Modern City's Act, a piece of legislation that looks to in her words "restore basic safety and order to our cities."
Tran says she would also do something no congressional representative has ever done, what she's calling "democratize the district."
"We are putting the power back into the people by allowing the voters of the East Bay to vote on every bill that crosses my desk in congress. Meaning that as long as 51% of the district votes for a bill that passes my desk, I will support that even if I don't personally agreed with the particular decision," said Dr. Tran.
Tran has positioned herself as the one voters should support if they're looking for someone to shake up Washington.
Simon has positioned herself as the one voters should support if they're looking for someone to work hand in hand with those already in Washington.
We'll have to wait until Election Day to see which one of those paths voters choose.