Congresswoman Lateefah Simon is a nationally recognized civil rights leader with more than three decades of experience at the intersection of movement building, government reform, public-private partnerships, and visionary institutional leadership.

Congresswoman Simon started her career at the Young Women's Freedom Center at 16, later becoming the Executive Director of the Center at just 19 years old. She built one of the country's most effective organizations serving young women and transgender youth impacted by incarceration, the underground street economy, and sexual violence. She won the MacArthur Genius Grant at age 26 for her work at the Young Women's Freedom Center. Congresswoman Simon later partnered with then-San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris to head the Back on Track program, served as Executive Director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, and President of the Akonadi Foundation.

In 2016, Congresswoman Simon was elected to the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Board of Directors and later President of the BART Board of Directors, becoming one of the only Black women in the nation to lead a major metropolitan transit agency. As BART Board President, she secured more than $3 billion in emergency funding to sustain transit operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, while also expanding accessibility, equity, and public safety programs across the region.

In 2024, Congresswoman Simon was elected to represent California's 12th Congressional District. Currently, she is one of the only members of Congress who is a single mother of a school-age child. Legally blind since birth, Congresswoman Simon also leads with a clarity shaped by lived experience and an agenda forged in the pursuit of justice, equity, and transformative change.

Lateefah Simon, CA-12 (incumbent)

*least bad candidate

When now-Mayor of Oakland Barbara Lee stepped down from the House in 2024 to run for Senate, many worried about the loss of her progressive, anti-imperialist voice. But since her election, Lateefah Simon has done well to fill her shoes and uphold the tradition of Black radicalism left by Lee and Ron Dellums before her. Simon, a powerful orator if you've attended one of the many protests and rallies she's spoken at, has been outspoken on left-wing issues, domestic and international alike, including Palestine, and she is undeniably the most left-wing member of California’s House delegation.

Though we hope to one day have a DSA member in this seat, the East Bay will do well to re-elect Simon.

Source (https://www.californiadsa.org/voterguide)