Barbara Lee

Barbara Lee
Born	Barbara Jean Tutt 7/16/1946
Birthplace	El Paso, Texas, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Politician
Known for	Sole vote against the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force; work on HIV/AIDS policy; 52nd Mayor of Oakland
Education	University of California, Berkeley (MSW)
Children	2
Awards	Congressional Black Caucus Chair (2009–2011), Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair (2005–2009)

Barbara Jean Lee (née Tutt; born July 16, 1946) is an American politician serving as the 52nd Mayor of Oakland since May 2025. She's a Democrat who represented California in the United States House of Representatives from 1998 to 2025, serving a district centered on Oakland and the northern portion of Alameda County. Before Congress, she spent eight years in both chambers of the California State Legislature starting in 1990. Her career spans more than three decades, rooted in the progressive activism of the San Francisco Bay Area. She got involved in politics through the presidential campaign of Shirley Chisholm and later worked with the Black Panther Party. Most people know her nationally for one thing: casting the lone dissenting vote against the Authorization for Use of Military Force following the September 11 attacks in 2001. That vote drew fierce criticism at the time, but it's since earned recognition as an act of political conscience. Lee also played a significant role in creating the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), working across party lines with President George W. Bush to address the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. She became the first Black woman to serve as mayor of Oakland when she took office on May 20, 2025.

Early Life

Barbara Jean Tutt was born July 16, 1946, in El Paso, Texas. Growing up in Texas during Jim Crow segregation shaped her early worldview. Her childhood experiences with racial inequality and social injustice left a permanent mark on how she understood the world.

Her political awakening came through the presidential campaign of Shirley Chisholm. Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to Congress and the first Black candidate to run for a major party's presidential nomination. Working on Chisholm's 1972 campaign was transformative for Lee. It pulled her into progressive politics and community organizing in a way that nothing else could have.

Around the same time, Lee also connected with the Black Panther Party, the revolutionary socialist organization founded in Oakland in 1966. She absorbed their emphasis on community self-defense, social programs, and political empowerment. This influence would show up repeatedly in her approach to public service and community advocacy throughout her career. Her ties to both Chisholm and the Panthers placed her squarely in the tradition of African American progressive activism that dominated Bay Area politics in the 1960s and 1970s.

Eventually she settled in the Bay Area. Before running for office, she worked as chief of staff for U.S. Representative Ron Dellums, a prominent progressive Democrat who represented the Oakland-based district. Those years with Dellums taught her how Congress actually worked. She handled legislative affairs, constituent services, and the nuts and bolts of federal government operations. It was the perfect preparation for her own future in office.

Education

Lee pursued her higher education in the San Francisco Bay Area. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mills College, a private liberal arts school in Oakland. Then came a Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of California, Berkeley. Her graduate training in social work shaped her entire approach to policy, especially on poverty, public health, and social welfare issues. Years later, during her time in the House, she helped restart the Congressional Social Work Caucus. That choice reflected how deeply her education had influenced her legislative priorities.

Career

California State Legislature (1990–1998)

Lee started in elected office in 1990 when she won a seat in the California State Assembly. She succeeded Elihu Harris representing what was then the 13th district. From December 3, 1990, through November 30, 1996, she served in the Assembly. The boundaries shifted in 1992, so she represented the 13th district until then, then the 16th district after redistricting.

By 1996, she moved up to the state Senate. She won election to represent the 9th district and took over from Nicholas Petris. Her Senate tenure was brief but important. She served from December 2, 1996, until April 17, 1998, when she resigned to take her House seat. Don Perata succeeded her, which was fitting since he'd also taken over her Assembly seat.

During those eight years in Sacramento, Lee became known as a progressive voice. She pushed hard on social welfare, education, and civil rights. Her state legislative record set the stage for everything that came next at the federal level.

United States House of Representatives (1998–2025)

Election to Congress

Lee was elected to the U.S. House in a 1998 special election to replace her former boss, Ron Dellums, who'd retired from Congress. Her Oakland-based district covered much of the northern portion of Alameda County. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of D+40, it was one of the most heavily Democratic districts in the country. She won re-election by large margins every single time.

Over her years in Congress, redistricting changed her district's number multiple times. From 1998 to 2013 it was California's 9th. Then 2013 to 2023 it became the 13th. Finally, from 2023 to 2025, it was the 12th.

Vote Against the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force

Lee's most defining moment in Congress happened on September 14, 2001. Just three days after 9/11, she cast the only vote against the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF). The resolution passed 420 to 1 in the House and 98 to 0 in the Senate. It gave the President sweeping authority to wage war against whoever was responsible for the attacks.

In her floor speech, Lee begged her colleagues to slow down. Don't act in haste when grief and anger are overwhelming the nation, she said. She warned against blank-check military authority and quoted something a clergy member said at a memorial service: "Let us not become the evil that we deplore."

The backlash was immediate and brutal. Death threats came in. Political commentators tore into her. Much of the public called her unpatriotic. But Representative John Conyers and some others defended her right to dissent.

As the years went by, things shifted. The AUMF got used to justify military operations in countries nowhere near the original scope of the post-9/11 response. Lee's vote started looking a lot less reckless and a lot more prescient. She kept pushing for the AUMF's repeal the entire time she was in Congress, saying it was an unchecked blank check for endless war.

Opposition to the Iraq War

Lee spoke out loudly against the Iraq War and the broader expansion of U.S. military operations throughout the Middle East. She opposed the 2002 authorization for military force against Iraq. Throughout her House tenure, she called for troop withdrawals and an end to what she saw as a misguided, costly conflict. On foreign policy and national security, she stood as one of Congress's leading progressive voices.

HIV/AIDS and PEPFAR

Beyond her antiwar work, Lee made real legislative contributions to global public health. HIV/AIDS became a major focus. She worked across party lines with President George W. Bush on the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), signed into law in 2003. It became the biggest global health initiative ever focused on a single disease. Billions of dollars went toward HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Her role in PEPFAR showed she could cooperate with a Republican administration on something that mattered. It happened despite their deep disagreements on other issues. That ability to work across the aisle, especially on something so important, set her apart.

Leadership Positions

Lee held several leadership roles within House Democrats and various congressional caucuses over her tenure:

• Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (2005–2009): She co-chaired alongside Representative Lynn Woolsey, helping coordinate and amplify progressive priorities within the Democratic conference.
• Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (2009–2011): She took over from Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick and was then succeeded by Emanuel Cleaver.
• Co-chair of the House Democratic Steering Committee: Lee helped steer committee assignments and shape policy direction for House Democrats.
• Founding member of the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus: She was there from the start in the caucus pushing for LGBTQ+ rights.
• Co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus: She led the bipartisan effort on cannabis policy reform.

These roles underlined her status as one of the House's most prominent progressive voices. They also showed how wide her interests stretched, spanning civil rights, social justice, foreign policy, and public health.

2024 Senate Campaign

In 2024, Lee made a big decision. Instead of running for her House seat again, she entered the race for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by Dianne Feinstein's death. California's jungle primary meant all candidates regardless of party went on a single ballot, with the top two advancing.

The field was crowded. Fellow Democratic Representative Adam Schiff ran. So did Steve Garvey, a former Major League Baseball player and Republican. Lee finished behind both Schiff and Garvey in the primary. She didn't make the runoff, which Schiff eventually won. Her House career ended after more than 26 years. Lateefah Simon took her seat.

Mayor of Oakland (2025–present)

2025 Special Election

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao got recalled. A special election followed to fill the vacancy. Lee threw her hat in the ring and faced former city council member Loren Taylor. She won and took the oath on May 20, 2025, replacing acting mayor Kevin Jenkins. First Black woman ever to lead Oakland as mayor.

Tenure as Mayor

As mayor, Lee has tackled multiple issues. Public safety matters. Immigration enforcement. Social services. Early on in 2026, she signed executive orders telling city departments to shield Oakland residents from federal immigration enforcement operations. The move reinforced Oakland's status as a sanctuary city.

In February 2026, she announced something different. A campaign to hand out free diapers and wipes to families across Alameda County. The bigger idea was supporting early childhood learning and helping low-income families.

Public safety has been rough. In February 2026, someone broke into her office at City Hall and stole the mayor's city SUV. The vehicle turned up later in Vallejo. Oakland police arrested a 29-year-old man. Turns out the suspect had been living inside City Hall for several days before the theft.

Personal Life

Barbara Lee has two children. She's been in the Oakland area for most of her adult life. She first came to the Bay Area to attend Mills College and never really left. Growing up in the segregated South and then getting immersed in Bay Area political and social movements shaped who she became.

Social welfare issues matter to her personally. Her social work background and her own experiences inform how she talks about poverty, healthcare access, and racial equity. That master's degree from UC Berkeley shows up in everything she advocates for.

In February 2026, she reflected publicly on the Reverend Jesse Jackson. She'd worked with him for decades through progressive and civil rights movements.

Recognition

That single vote against the 2001 AUMF remains what most people remember about Lee. The vote caused huge controversy at first. But over time, as historians, commentators, and fellow politicians looked back on it, they saw principled dissent. Two decades later, after the AUMF authorized military operations in countless countries, Lee's warnings about open-ended authority looked prescient to many observers.

Her leadership in the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Congressional Black Caucus put her among the House's most prominent progressive voices during the 2000s and 2010s. Her PEPFAR work earned recognition as a major bipartisan achievement in global health.

When Lee became Oakland's mayor in 2025, people noted the historic milestone. First Black woman ever elected to that office. It added another achievement to her record as someone who's broken barriers throughout her political career.

Legacy

Barbara Lee's political legacy rests on several distinct contributions to American public life. Her September 14, 2001, vote against the AUMF stands as one of the most significant acts of legislative dissent in modern congressional history. She was the only member of either chamber to oppose it. She raised concerns about open-ended military authority that would echo through debates for decades. The AUMF stayed on the books for more than twenty years, used to justify military operations everywhere, and Lee's repeated demands for its repeal became central to broader arguments about congressional war powers and executive authority over national security matters.

Her career also reveals the deep connections between Bay Area progressive politics and national policy debates. From that Shirley Chisholm campaign and her Black Panther connections, through her years with Ron Dellums, to three decades in elected office, Lee's been a consistent force in the Democratic Party's progressive wing. Leading both the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Congressional Black Caucus put her at the intersection of the party's progressive and civil rights traditions.

The PEPFAR work showed something important: progressive members of Congress could find common ground with ideologically opposed administrations on issues of global consequence. The program has saved millions of lives in HIV/AIDS-affected countries.

In 2025, Lee left the House to become Oakland mayor. That meant returning to the community that'd been the foundation of her entire political career. More than a quarter century in Congress, then back to local office. As mayor, she's kept focusing on poverty, public safety, and civil rights. She brings her federal policy experience to the real urban challenges facing one of California's most difficult and complex cities.