One obvious choice to succeed Lee
Of the nine candidates running, Lateefah Simon was the lone standout
California’s 12th congressional district, which is anchored in Oakland and stretches from Albany to San Leandro, was helmed for nearly two decades by Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee, who’s running for U.S. Senate.
Whoever wins the seat will inherit the district’s significant challenges. Violent crime skyrocketed 21% last year in Oakland, and the city’s only In-N-Out recently announced plans to close due to pervasive car break-ins and armed robberies. Kaiser Permanente, Oakland’s largest employer, recently told workers to avoid going outside for lunch. Clorox employees are being escorted to and from the office by uniformed security officers.
The district’s next representative will also have the rare opportunity to improve conditions on the ground and change how it’s perceived nationally.
The candidate best positioned to do that is Lateefah Simon, 47, a member of the BART board of directors, a California State University trustee and a longtime nonprofit executive and civil justice advocate who received Lee’s endorsement.
Of the nine candidates running to replace Lee — seven Democrats and two Republicans — Simon was the lone standout, marking a stark contrast with nearby Silicon Valley, where multiple impressive contenders are vying for an open congressional seat.
Simon practically buzzed with energy in her interview with us. Although her policy platform is light on details — Simon said she plans to develop it in consultation with her constituents — her clear understanding of how Congress works and her definitive vision for her first year in office leaves us with little doubt that she’ll be able to hit the ground running.
Simon said her top three priorities are cultivating the strong relationships foundational to passing meaningful, bipartisan legislation; setting up a powerhouse constituent services office to assist East Bay residents and give them a voice in Congress; and helping to shape and articulate an effective Democratic agenda to animate young voters nationally, turn them out at the ballot box and develop the next generation of leaders.
These are all pragmatic and reasonable aims for a freshman legislator.
Despite punting on a specific policy platform, Simon’s fluency with key issues — born of her deep personal and professional understanding of government systems — is apparent.
After entering the juvenile justice system and being referred to the Center for Young Women’s Development, Simon ended up becoming its executive director at age 19. She won a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” for helping young women leave prostitution and drug use and become community leaders. She also led efforts to reduce youth recidivism under then-Attorney General Kamala Harris and served as a policing adviser to Gov. Gavin Newsom. Simon also brings a unique and much-needed perspective to conversations surrounding public transportation: She relies heavily on mass transit because she is legally blind and has never driven a car.
We were impressed by Simon’s pragmatic approach to such divisive issues as crime and homelessness. In addition to pushing for significant raises for BART police officers, she supported an alternative BART ambassador program.
And she wants to leverage federal funding to turn empty government buildings, such as Oakland’s old county jail, into emergency shelters for homeless people.
The race’s two other noteworthy candidates are Democrats Tony Daysog, the vice-mayor of Alameda who’s served on the Alameda City Council for the past two decades, and Jennifer Tran, an assistant professor of ethnic studies at CSU East Bay and president of the Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce.
Daysog, whose mother survived the Nagasaki atomic bomb, spoke passionately about the need to reduce military spending and instead invest in universal health care and higher education. We were impressed by his attention to detail — it’s clear he’s read every word of lengthy federal reports to help inform his policy positions, particularly on the conflict in Gaza — and by his experience helping to convert the former naval air station in Alameda into a bustling waterfront with housing, businesses and a ferry terminal. His overall vision for Congress, however, is unclear.
Tran, the daughter of refugees, argued persuasively about the need to improve and expand federal support for refugees and small businesses, but her grasp of other issues was tenuous.
Four of the remaining six candidates challenged Lee in 2022. The Democrats are Glenn Kaplan, a bar owner and teacher who also emphasized the need for better-targeted federal support for small businesses, and Eric Wilson, a nonprofit worker who touted his progressive bona fides. The Republicans are Stephen Slauson, who told us his main priority was stopping military aid to all foreign countries, and Ned Nuerge, a retired driving instructor who didn’t respond to an interview request.
Also running are Democrats Abdur Sikder, a computer science lecturer at San Francisco State University who would likely be a more effective politician at the local level, and Andre Todd, a former U.S. Navy officer who didn’t respond to an interview request.