Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland makes it official; Joins crowded field for Sen. Feinstein's seat

OAKLAND -- East Bay Congresswoman Barbara Lee has officially joined the crowded field of Democratic candidates seeking to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein when she retires in 2024.

While she filed papers on Feb. 15th with the Federal Elections Commission, Lee had not formally announced her candidacy until Tuesday.

On the video, Lee gave an indication of the issues she will focus her campaign on.

"To do nothing has never been an option for me," she said. "When my high school said cheerleaders couldn't be Black, I took them on. I worked with the NAACP, and earned my spot as the school's first black cheerleader. When there weren't protections for survivors of domestic violence, I wrote California's first Violence Against Women Act."

"When it was legal to discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community, I wrote the Hate Crimes Reduction Act…I don't quit. I don't give up. That's not in my DNA…When you stand on the side of justice, you don't quit if they don't give you a seat at the table. You bring a folding chair for everyone, and they are here to stay."  

Lee said she wants to maintain a powerful progressive voice the Senate.

"I'm running for US Senate because Californians deserve a strong, progressive leader who has accomplished real things and delivered real change," she said. "That's what I've done my entire career in public service, and it's what I'll do in the Senate. Californians have my word that, whether it's the climate crisis, solutions to homelessness, lifting people out of poverty, easing the burden on the middle class, protecting our Democracy, standing up for reproductive freedom, or ensuring our civil and human rights, I will never back down from fighting for what's right."  

She is joining a Democratic field that already includes U.S. Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff. Porter is known for her use of a whiteboard during congressional hearings, and Schiff was the lead prosecutor in then-President Donald Trump's first impeachment trial.

The three Democratic candidates occupy much of the same political terrain, so the race could be shaped by other factors that distinguish them.

Lee was the first Black woman elected to the State Assembly, State Senate, and Congress from Northern California. 

 If Lee is elected, she would be the only Black woman in the Senate.

Lee's district in the Bay Area is one of the most liberal in the country and includes Berkeley and Oakland. 

In Oakland, those who've worked closely with her say they're exited about the possibility of having someone with roots in the community becoming a major voice in Washington.

Bishop Bob Jackson has been the lead pastor at Acts Full Gospel Church in Oakland since 1984 and has worked closely with Lee since she first took office in 1998.     

"She's brought money into Oakland, for a number of things that we've been able to do, and wouldn't have been able to do without her support," he told KPIX.

Jackson says he and Lee founded the African American Chamber of Commerce together 19 years ago and said because she was born and raised in the community, she has a different perspective than most politicians on the issues minority communities are facing.

He says while the church cannot endorse a specific candidate, he feels Lee's voice is one that needs to be heard in the Senate.

"I just think it would be great for somebody of her caliber, expertise, her experiences, the longevity that she's had in politics as a Black woman, I mean she's been through it all."

Meanwhile, Porter represents a politically divided district in Orange County, southeast of Los Angeles, that was once a conservative stronghold. Schiff's district runs north from Los Angeles and includes Hollywood and Burbank, where he lives. 

None of the candidates has run statewide before. They face the challenge of becoming more widely known, though they each have established political reputations.  

David McCuen, a political science professor at Sonoma State University, said while Lee is well-established in the state's political circles, Lee's biggest challenge will be fundraising.    

"California's Senate race next year has the potential to set spending records," McCuen told KPIX. "It has the potential to be the most expensive U.S. Senate race ever, and that's going to challenge someone like Barbara Lee to raise a lot of money and keep up with the other candidates, because it's very expensive to run state-wide in California."

After serving in the United States Senate for more than three decades, Feinstein announced on Feb. 14 that she will not run for re-election in 2024.

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"I am announcing today I will not run for reelection in 2024 but intend to accomplish as much for California as I can through the end of next year when my term ends," the senator said in a statement.

Feinstein's upcoming retirement will mark the end of a decades-long career in politics, which began on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1969.  

Katie Nielsen contributed reporting.