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Lateefah Simon

U.S. House · CA-12 · Democrats · since 2025

also

Candidate for U.S. House · CA-12

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Biography

Overview

Lateefah Simon is a Democrat representing California's 12th congressional district since January 2025. She is the first member of Congress known to be born legally blind in both eyes and the first Muslim member from California and outside the Midwest. Before Congress, she served on the Bay Area Rapid Transit board and California State University Board of Trustees. In 2003, at age 26, she received a MacArthur Fellowship for her work leading the Center for Young Women's Development in San Francisco.

Career

Before Congress, Simon co-created San Francisco's Back on Track program for young adults charged with low-level drug felonies during Kamala Harris's tenure as District Attorney. She served as executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, a trustee of the San Francisco Foundation, and president of the Akonadi Foundation focused on racial justice. She was elected president of the BART board in 2020 and advocated for transit accessibility as a blind rider.

Prior political experience

Simon announced her candidacy for California's 12th congressional district in February 2023. California Governor Gavin Newsom endorsed her in November 2023. She defeated CSU East Bay professor Jennifer Tran, also a Democrat, in the November 2024 general election. The previous representative, Barbara Lee, did not seek re-election and instead ran for U.S. Senate.

Biographical material adapted from the Wikipedia article (retrieved April 29, 2026), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ideology

Liberal–Conservative (DW-NOMINATE dim 1)

Liberal
Conservative
119th Congress-0.604

Secondary axis (DW-NOMINATE dim 2)(?)

−1
+1
-0.325
Source: Voteview DW-NOMINATE · 338 scored votes

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Officeholding history

TermSeatTerm datesTerminationPredecessorSuccessor
1stU.S. House CA-122025–presentIn progressNancy Pelosi—

Committee assignments

Current term legislation

Bills sponsored this term6

Bills cosponsored this term10

Elections

YearSeatResultVote shareField
2024U.S. House CA-12Pending65.43%