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Lateefah Simon

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Lateefah Simon
Official House portrait of Simon smiling in front of the U.S. flag, wearing a white shirt and black suit with large gold buttons.
Official portrait, 2024
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 12th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2025
Preceded byBarbara Lee
Personal details
Born
Lateefah Aaliyah Simon

(1977-01-29) January 29, 1977 (age 48)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Kevin Weston
​
​
(m. 2012; died 2014)​
Children2
EducationMills College (BA)
University of San Francisco (MPA)
Signature
WebsiteHouse website

Lateefah Aaliyah Simon[1] (born January 29, 1977) is an American politician who is the U.S. representative for California's 12th congressional district since January 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first member of congress known to be congenitally blind in both eyes, and the first Muslim member from California and outside of the Midwestern U.S.[2][3]

She served on the Bay Area Rapid Transit board of directors[4] and on the board of trustees of the California State University system.[5] She served as a trustee of the San Francisco Foundation and president of MeadowFund, a community investment fund created by Patricia Quillin, the wife of Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, and was president of Akonadi Foundation, an organization focused on racial justice in Oakland, California.[6][7]In 2003, she became the youngest woman to receive a MacArthur Fellowship for her leadership of the Center for Young Women's Development (now the Young Women's Freedom Center) in San Francisco at the age of 19.[8][9]

Early life

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Simon earned a Bachelor of Arts in public policy at Mills College, where she was the 2017 commencement speaker,[10] a Master of Public Administration from the University of San Francisco, and was a 2014 Social Entrepreneurs-in-Residence Fellow at Stanford University.[11]

Earlier political career

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During the tenure of Kamala Harris as San Francisco District Attorney, Simon led the creation of the city's Back on Track program for young adults charged with low-level felony drug sales.[12] Simon also previously worked as the executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.

In 2016, Simon was appointed to the California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees by Governor Jerry Brown.[13]

Simon was elected to represent the seventh district on the Bay Area Rapid Transit District board of directors in 2016.[14] Her motivations for running included her reliance on BART, as someone who is legally blind and unable to drive.[15] In 2020, she was elected president of the board of directors.[14]

Lateefah Simon at the Oakland Pride Parade during her campaign for Congress

U.S. House of Representatives

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2024 election

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In February 2023, Simon announced that she was running for California's 12th congressional district.[12] The current representative for the district, Barbara Lee, who did not seek re-election to the seat and instead ran as a candidate in the 2024 United States Senate election in California. On November 2, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom endorsed Simon's candidacy.[16] Simon defeated CSU East Bay professor Jennifer Tran, a fellow Democrat, in the November general election.[17]

Caucus memberships

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Personal life

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Simon is the mother of two children.[11] Simon's husband, Kevin Weston, was a recognized journalist and activist who died from leukemia in 2014.[21] She is Muslim.[22]

Electoral history

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California's 12th congressional district, 2024[23][24]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Lateefah Simon 86,031 55.9
Democratic Jennifer Tran 22,999 14.9
Democratic Tony Daysog 17,222 11.2
Republican Stephen Slauson 9,710 6.3
Democratic Glenn Kaplan 6,799 4.4
Democratic Eric Wilson 4,252 2.8
Democratic Abdur Sikder 2,857 1.9
Republican Ned Nuerge 2,535 1.6
Democratic Andre Todd 1,632 1.1
Total votes 154,037 100.0
General election
Democratic Lateefah Simon 185,176 65.4
Democratic Jennifer Tran 97,849 34.6
Total votes 283,025 100.0
Democratic hold

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ "Rep. Lateefah Simon - D California, 12th - Biography". LegiStorm. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  2. ^ Michaels, Samantha. "Lateefah Simon, on track to be a new House Dem: "I've never shied away from any fight"". Mother Jones. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
  3. ^ "CAIR Action Congratulates Lateefah Simon on Historic Victory as First Muslim Elected to Congress from California". CAIR Action. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
  4. ^ "Board of Directors | Bay Area Rapid Transit". February 1, 2024. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  5. ^ "Lateefah Simon". November 13, 2017. Archived from the original on November 13, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  6. ^ "Lateefah Simon, President". Akonadi Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  7. ^ "This High Achiever Aims Higher Still | University of San Francisco". www.usfca.edu. January 20, 2025. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
  8. ^ "Three Blacks Named MacArthur Fellows for 2003 Awarded $500,000 'Genius Grants'". Jet. October 27, 2003. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Lateefah Simon". MacArthur Foundation. October 5, 2003. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  10. ^ "Civil Rights Advocate Lateefah Simon to Deliver Mills College Commencement Address". Mills College. March 22, 2017. Retrieved March 22, 2017.
  11. ^ a b "About Lateefah". Lateefah for BART. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  12. ^ a b Garofoli, Joe (February 28, 2023). "BART director, criminal justice reformer Lateefah Simon launches campaign for East Bay House seat". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  13. ^ "Lateefah Simon | CSU". The California State University. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  14. ^ a b "Lateefah Simon". Bay Area Rapid Transit. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  15. ^ "Lateefah Simon seeks inspiration in promises made". SFGate. January 6, 2016. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  16. ^ "Gavin Newsom endorses Lateefah Simon in race to fill Barbara Lee's House seat". The Washington Examiner. November 2, 2023.
  17. ^ https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/california-12th-congressional-district-lateefah-simon-jennifer-tran-2024-election/
  18. ^ "CAPAC Welcomes New Members for the 119th Congress | Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC)". capac.house.gov. February 7, 2025. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
  19. ^ "Congressional Black Caucus". cbc.house.gov. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
  20. ^ "Caucus Members". Congressional Progressive Caucus. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
  21. ^ "Bay Area media pioneer Kevin Weston dead at 45". The Mercury News. June 18, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  22. ^ Kukura, Joe (March 6, 2024). "Lateefah Simon Commands Huge Lead in Primary Race for Barbara Lee's House Seat". SFist. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  23. ^ "Statement of Vote" (PDF). sos.ca.gov. Sacramento: Secretary of State of California. 2024. p. 82. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 18, 2024. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  24. ^ "Statement of Vote" (PDF). sos.ca.gov. Sacramento: Secretary of State of California. 2024. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 30, 2024. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  25. ^ "Jefferson Award, presented to Lateefah Simon". SFGate. October 19, 2007. Archived from the original on July 7, 2012.
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U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 12th congressional district
2025–present 		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by United States representatives by seniority
427th 		Succeeded by
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