Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Progressive Icon and Ex-US Rep. Barbara Lee Wins Race for Mayor of Oakland
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 3 weeks ago on
April 19, 2025

Barbara Lee, a long-serving congresswoman, has been declared the winner in Oakland's mayoral race after her opponent conceded. (AP/Santiago Mejia)

Share

SAN FRANCISCO — 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.

A Call for Unity

“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.

Oakland’s Challenges

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.

Campaign Priorities

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.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified Faces New Legal Claim Alleging Top Official Trapped Employee in Car

DON'T MISS

Clovis Police Arrest Two in Connection to Caleb Quick’s Murder

DON'T MISS

Elizabeth Smart Shares Harrowing Kidnap, Assault Experience with Fresno

DON'T MISS

US Military Ordered to Pull Books on Diversity, Gender Issues

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Authorities Seek Public’s Help in Huron Homicide

DON'T MISS

UN Agencies Warn That Israel’s Plans for Aid Distribution Will Endanger Lives in Gaza

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Officer Arrested on Sexual Battery Charges

DON'T MISS

Mayor Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, Arrested at ICE Detention Center He Has Been Protesting

DON'T MISS

FDA Will Allow Three New Color Additives Made From Minerals, Algae and Flower Petals

DON'T MISS

Pentagon Directs Military to Pull Library Books That Address Diversity, Anti-Racism, Gender Issues

UP NEXT

Clovis Police Arrest Two in Connection to Caleb Quick’s Murder

UP NEXT

Elizabeth Smart Shares Harrowing Kidnap, Assault Experience with Fresno

UP NEXT

US Military Ordered to Pull Books on Diversity, Gender Issues

UP NEXT

Fresno County Authorities Seek Public’s Help in Huron Homicide

UP NEXT

UN Agencies Warn That Israel’s Plans for Aid Distribution Will Endanger Lives in Gaza

UP NEXT

Fresno Police Officer Arrested on Sexual Battery Charges

UP NEXT

Mayor Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, Arrested at ICE Detention Center He Has Been Protesting

UP NEXT

FDA Will Allow Three New Color Additives Made From Minerals, Algae and Flower Petals

UP NEXT

Pentagon Directs Military to Pull Library Books That Address Diversity, Anti-Racism, Gender Issues

UP NEXT

Fresno Pays the Most for Electricity. What Are Lawmakers Doing About It?

US Military Ordered to Pull Books on Diversity, Gender Issues

7 hours ago

Fresno County Authorities Seek Public’s Help in Huron Homicide

7 hours ago

UN Agencies Warn That Israel’s Plans for Aid Distribution Will Endanger Lives in Gaza

8 hours ago

Fresno Police Officer Arrested on Sexual Battery Charges

8 hours ago

Mayor Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, Arrested at ICE Detention Center He Has Been Protesting

8 hours ago

FDA Will Allow Three New Color Additives Made From Minerals, Algae and Flower Petals

9 hours ago

Pentagon Directs Military to Pull Library Books That Address Diversity, Anti-Racism, Gender Issues

9 hours ago

Fresno Pays the Most for Electricity. What Are Lawmakers Doing About It?

9 hours ago

Freed Palestinian Student Accuses Columbia University of Inciting Violence

9 hours ago

First At-Home Test Kit for Cervical Cancer Approved by the FDA, Company Says

9 hours ago

Fresno Unified Faces New Legal Claim Alleging Top Official Trapped Employee in Car

Fresno Unified trustees on Wednesday will hear a claim for damages from a campus safety officer who alleges her supervisor, a top district o...

5 hours ago

https://www.communitymedical.org/thecause?utm_source=Misfit+Digital&utm_medium=GVWire+Banner+Ads&utm_campaign=Branding+2025&utm_content=thecause
5 hours ago

Fresno Unified Faces New Legal Claim Alleging Top Official Trapped Employee in Car

5 hours ago

Clovis Police Arrest Two in Connection to Caleb Quick’s Murder

6 hours ago

Elizabeth Smart Shares Harrowing Kidnap, Assault Experience with Fresno

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 10, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo
7 hours ago

US Military Ordered to Pull Books on Diversity, Gender Issues

Fresno County authorities are seeking the public’s help to find the suspect who killed Jesus Adrian Amador Jr., 22, of Huron, in a 2017 shooting. (Fresno County SO)
7 hours ago

Fresno County Authorities Seek Public’s Help in Huron Homicide

8 hours ago

UN Agencies Warn That Israel’s Plans for Aid Distribution Will Endanger Lives in Gaza

Photo of the front of Fresno Police Headquarters
8 hours ago

Fresno Police Officer Arrested on Sexual Battery Charges

8 hours ago

Mayor Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, Arrested at ICE Detention Center He Has Been Protesting

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend