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Next year, California’s 12th congressional district will have a new representative after being represented by Congresswoman Barbara Lee for the past 25 years. Lee is pursuing a seat in the U.S. Senate and has just formally endorsed Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) board member Lateefah Simon’s campaign to succeed her in representing the 12th district.

Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla and U.S. Senator Laphonza Butler jointly announced they are endorsing Lateefah Simon in the CA-12 Congressional race. The two U.S. Senators from California join Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Governor Gavin Newsom, the California Democratic Party, and dozens of organizations endorsing Lateefah Simon for Congress. 

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. 

Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-12) endorsed Lateefah Simon’s campaign for Congress, throwing her support behind Simon to succeed her in California's 12th Congressional District. Congresswoman Lee’s U.S. Senate campaign will also be opening a joint campaign headquarters with Simon’s congressional campaign in downtown Oakland.

Only one of the candidates is mounting a substantial campaign. BART Director Lateefah Simon has dwarfed all the others with the depth of her support. We endorse her — not because the seat is essentially hers to lose, although it is, but because she is the best candidate.

Of the candidates running, Lateefah Simon is the most qualified. A strong ally to the LGBTQ community, Simon, currently a director on the BART board, has experience with government agencies such as the transit service, as well as with nonprofits like the Young Women's Freedom Center, which she stated she grew into one of the country's leading juvenile justice reentry youth-run organizations that serves gender nonbinary and trans young people.

“Lateefah is a visionary. But more than a visionary, she is a proven leader who effects the kind of change that makes her vision a reality” said Governor Newsom.

BART Director Lateefah Simon rallied supporters today to officially launch her run for Congress in downtown Oakland. KCBS Radio's Mike DeWald reports, Simon is hoping to replace longtime East Bay Representative Barbara Lee.

Lateefah Simon has been in the business of politics and community organizing for 30 years. The longtime Bay Area advocate announced a run for Congress earlier this year. Today, she has received a major endorsement from EMILYs List— which “is the nation’s largest resource dedicated to electing Democratic pro-choice women to office.”  

Today EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, endorsed Lateefah Simon for election to California’s 12th Congressional District. Lateefah Simon is the first non-incumbent candidate to be endorsed by EMILYs List for the 2024 cycle. 

Today Lateefah Simon announced she has earned the endorsement of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Alameda County, a coalition of 27 affiliated unions representing East Bay workers in a variety of construction trades.

BART Board Director Lateefah Simon joins KQED's Political Breakdown to discuss growing up in San Francisco, her early work with Kamala Harris, facing threats in office and her run for Congress.

Today Lateefah Simon announced that she raised over $300,000 from over 1,000 individual contributors in the first month of her campaign to represent California’s 12th Congressional District.

Today Lateefah Simon announced she has earned the support of over 40 elected leaders since launching her campaign a month ago. Her early endorsements include Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis, Attorney General Rob Bonta, ten members of the State Legislature, and over a dozen current and former elected leaders from CA-12.

Today Lateefah Simon announced she has earned the endorsement of the National Union of Healthcare Workers — her first major labor endorsement in the race for California’s 12th Congressional District.

BART director Lateefah Simon announced her bid to fill U.S. Rep. Lee's seat this week. Simon has been politically active in the Bay Area for two decades and is recognized nationally as a civil rights leader. She joins us in the studio to discuss the transit agency and her run for Congress.

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Today Lateefah Simon, candidate for California’s 12th Congressional district, announced that she raised over $140,000 from individual contributors in the first 24 hours after launching her campaign. Lateefah received contributions from 320 donors. Lateefah does not accept corporate PAC money and is running a people-powered grassroots campaign. 

Lateefah Simon, a BART board director, police reform advocate and former recipient of a MacArthur Foundation genius grant, is the first major candidate to launch a campaign to replace Rep. Barbara Lee as the East Bay’s representative in the House on Tuesday — and she is clearing the field of potential rivals.

Today Lateefah Simon, BART Board District 7 Director and a nationally recognized social justice leader, announced her campaign to represent California’s 12th Congressional district. Lateefah has dedicated her 25-year career to fighting for marginalized communities in the Bay Area, and is running to continue Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s legacy of bold, progressive leadership in the House of Representatives.