Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) has announced her candidacy to run in 2024 for the Senate seat occupied since 1992 by retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).
“Today I am proud to announce my candidacy for U.S. Senate. I’ve never backed down from doing what’s right. And I never will. Californians deserve a strong, progressive leader who has delivered real change,” said Lee in a Feb. 21 post on her Twitter page that included her announcement video.
Lee, who is black, seeks election to the Senate, where there are presently no African American women.
In the video, Lee, 76, talked about living under segregation and having an illegal abortion. She mentioned escaping “a violent marriage” and becoming a single and homeless mom who “couldn’t afford childcare and brought her kids to class with her.” She also touted becoming her high school’s first black cheerleader after being denied a spot on the squad because she was black.
“To do nothing has never been an option for me,” she said.
Lee called for protecting the middle class, tackling poverty and homelessness, combating climate change and stopping “MAGA extremists who think they can control people’s bodies and dismantle our democracy.”
Lee is known for being dovish on foreign policy. She was the only vote against the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) to go after those responsible for 9/11. Her 2021 resolution to repeal the 2002 AUMF to authorize the U.S. war in Iraq passed the House but died in the Senate.
Lee objected to certifying the 2001, 2004, and 2016 presidential elections, where the Republican nominee won.
Two other lawmakers—Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), 62, and Katie Porter (D-Calif.), 49—have already announced their candidacy for the seat. They did so before Feinstein announced her retirement on Feb. 14 after a 30-year career in the Senate. While President Joe Biden has yet to endorse any candidate in the Democratic primary, former House speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has endorsed Schiff. In heavily blue California, the top two vote recipients advance to the general election, which will likely be Democrat-on-Democrat.
Lee has been in Congress since 1998. She is the co-chair of the House Democratic Steering Committee, which assigns Democrats to committees and advises party leaders on policy. She served in the California State Assembly from 1990–96 and the California State Senate from 1996–98.
