Updated 11/05/20: This article has been updated to reflect California Secretary of State election results.
Incumbent Rep. Barbara Lee won the 2020 election for California’s 13th Congressional District, according to a race call by The Associated Press, with 64% of precincts reporting.
Facing off against Republican challenger Nikka Piterman, Lee won the election with 91% of the vote compared to Piterman’s 9% as of press time. The 13th Congressional District encompasses the northern portion of Alameda County, including Berkeley and Oakland.
“THANK YOU to every single person who voted for me in CA-13 and re-electing me to another term,” Lee said in a tweet from her campaign account. “I am so proud to represent the most progressive district in the country. When we come together to fight for racial, social, and economic justice, we will transform the country.”
A UC Berkeley graduate and member of Congress since 1998, Lee has represented the district since 2013, having previously served as representative for California’s 9th Congressional District. The upcoming term will be her 13th in the role.
Lee’s win comes as no surprise to voters, as she won the primary against Piterman with 90.02% of the vote in March. Voters have routinely reelected Lee with 80%-90% of the vote each election cycle.
After growing up in Texas, Lee moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Mills College in Oakland before receiving her master’s degree from UC Berkeley.
Well known as an anti-war progressive, Lee was notably the lone vote against the authorization for the use of military force after the Sept. 11 attacks. Lee’s campaign website lists her as “the only African American woman in Democratic Leadership,” and she currently serves as co-chair of the Policy and Steering Committee.
Lee also serves on the Budget Committee and on the Appropriations Committee, along with its subcommittees for state and foreign operations; health and human services, labor and education; and agriculture, rural development and food and drug administration.
Piterman congratulated Lee on her win via Twitter on Wednesday morning.
“It’s been a great honor running against such a distinguished legislator to represent the great people of Alameda county,” Piterman said in a tweet. “I’m thankful to have met so many patriotic Americans during the campaign!”
Calling himself a Tea Party Republican, free-market capitalist and green conservative in his Ballotpedia biography, Piterman ran on a platform of tax cuts, Space Force establishment, medical cannabis and hemp legalization, Puerto Rican statehood and national adoption of the metric system.
Piterman earned a degree in rhetoric with a minor in music from UC Berkeley in 2016 and is a graduate of Piedmont High School. He currently works as a teacher of music, computer science and chess.
Additionally, Piterman campaigned for former representative Ron Paul in 2012, President Donald Trump in 2016 and Elizabeth Heng, former candidate for California’s 16th Congressional District, in 2018.
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