Barbara Lee vies for Dem hierarchy role

East Bay Rep. Barbara Lee confirmed Monday that she is running for a Democratic leadership position in the House.

If elected to the party’s fourth-highest position, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, the Oakland Democrat would be the first African American woman to serve in the leadership of either party. The caucus chair’s job is to communicate the party’s message to members.

Lee’s official entry into the race sets up a rematch with Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Whittier (Los Angeles County), who announced her candidacy last week. Sanchez defeated Lee in 2016 for caucus vice chair, the party’s No. 5 House job, by two votes.

The Democratic caucus chair’s job came open for the next session of Congress when the current chair, Rep. Joe Crowley of New York, was

defeated in a primary election by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

In a letter to her House colleagues Monday, Lee, 72, stressed her ability to find common ground among the party’s disparate wings. In the 2016 presidential campaign, Lee wrote, she was key in “bringing the (Bernie) Sanders and (Hillary) Clinton campaigns together behind a cohesive and progressive Democratic platform.” Lee endorsed neither candidate in the primaries.

“Over the years, I have fought to lift families out of poverty and empower everyday people,” Lee wrote. “As your caucus chair, I will ensure that we hear every view, respect every member, and welcome every voice.”

Lee was first elected to the House in 1998 after serving in the state Legislature from 1990-96. She is best known nationally for being the only member of Congress to vote against authorizing the use of force after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. She explained in a Chronicle opinion article that it was “a blank check to the president to attack anyone involved in the Sept. 11 events — anywhere, in any country, without regard to our nation’s long-term foreign policy, economic and national security interests, and without time limit.”

Lee has also prioritized obtaining funding for HIV/AIDS programs and normalizing U.S. relations with Cuba.

On Monday, National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Jack Pandol mocked Lee’s support of the late Cuban President Fidel Castro, saying in a tweet, “Dems could choose a Caucus Chair who called for Americans to ‘mourn’ Communist dictator Fidel Castro’s death because ‘he led a revolution in Cuba that led social improvements for his people.’ She’ll fit right in!”

“I am who I am. I don’t hide behind my record,” Lee told The Chronicle last month when she floated the possibility of running for the caucus job.

She noted that her father served in the military for 25 years and said, “I’m as patriotic as they are. But I’ve learned that they’re going to say what they’re going to say. It’s not the first time I’ve been demonized. But I’m going to keep working for the people.”