Lateefah Simon | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2025 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's12th district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Barbara Lee |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lateefah Aaliyah Simon (1977-01-29)January 29, 1977 (age 48) San Francisco,California, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Mills College (BA) University of San Francisco (MPA) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Lateefah Aaliyah Simon[1] (born January 29, 1977) is an American politician who is theU.S. representative forCalifornia's 12th congressional district since January 2025. A member of theDemocratic Party, she is the first member of Congress known to be bornlegally blind in both eyes, and the first Muslim member from California and outside of theMidwestern United States.[2][3]
She served on theBay Area Rapid Transit board of directors[4] and on the board of trustees of theCalifornia 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-founderReed Hastings, and was president of Akonadi Foundation, an organization focused on racial justice inOakland, California.[6][7] In 2003, she became the youngest woman to receive aMacArthur Fellowship for her leadership of the Center for Young Women's Development (now the Young Women's Freedom Center) inSan Francisco at the age of 26.[8][9]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion with: Info re parents, family and childhood. You can help byadding to it.(July 2025) |
Simon was born and raised in theWestern Addition neighborhood ofSan Francisco. She attendedWashington High School, where she joined the debate team. Beginning at age 15, she did outreach work for the Young Women's Freedom Center.[10]
Simon earned aBachelor of Arts in public policy atMills College, where she was the 2017 commencement speaker,[11] aMaster of Public Administration from theUniversity of San Francisco, and was a 2014 Social Entrepreneurs-in-Residence Fellow atStanford University.[12]
During the tenure ofKamala Harris asSan 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.[13] Simon also previously worked as the executive director of theLawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of theSan Francisco Bay Area.
In 2016, Simon was appointed to theCalifornia State University (CSU) Board of Trustees by GovernorJerry Brown.[14]
Simon was elected to represent the seventh district on theBay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) board of directors in 2016.[15] Her motivations for running included her reliance on BART, as someone who islegally blind and unable to drive.[16] In 2020, she was elected president of the board of directors.[15]
In 2022, BART officials announced that Simon had been removed from the board after it was determined that her residence lay outside District 7, making her ineligible to represent the district. Simon stated that she had moved due to threats against her family stemming from her advocacy on police reform, and that she had been assured by BART staff prior to moving that the new residence was within district boundaries. She described the outcome as "deeply disappointing."[17]
Later that month, BART reversed its decision and reinstated Simon to the board.[18]
In February 2023, Simon announced that she was running forCalifornia's 12th congressional district in the2024 election.[13] The previous representative for the district,Barbara Lee, did not seek re-election to the seat and instead ran as a candidate in the2024 United States Senate election in California. On November 2, 2023,California GovernorGavin Newsom endorsed Simon's candidacy.[19] Simon defeatedCSU East Bay professor Jennifer Tran, a fellow Democrat, in the November general election.[20]
For the 119th Congress:[21]
Simon has positioned herself within the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, supporting policies modeled on European social democracies.[27]
She has advocated for a federal jobs guarantee, a nationalminimum wage of at least$15 per hour,universal health care, expanded union protections, and strengthened safety-net programs such asMedicaid and food assistance.[28] She has opposed budgetary cuts to education,health care, andsocial services while criticizing defense appropriations, pledging to vote against legislation that funds warfare.[29]
Simon has aligned with environmental justice groups in California, voicing support for policies aimed at transitioning away from fossil fuels and resisting corporate lobbying from theoil industry.[30]
In Congress, Simon has been critical ofU.S. military intervention and funding of foreign conflicts. She has called for reductions in defense spending and a reorientation of federal resources toward domestic welfare, health care, and education.[31]
Simon has opposed tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese imports, describing them as harmful to working families by driving up consumer prices. She has framed tariff policy as a form of “economic sabotage” that burdens households while failing to address structural inequalities.[28]
Simon has been outspoken in her criticism ofIsraeli military operations in Gaza and U.S. financial and military support for them. She described Israeli actions against Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid as “devastating, deplorable, and unacceptable,” and stated that the United States has been complicit in civilian deaths.[32] She has characterized the situation in Gaza as a humanitarian crisis marked by famine and civilian suffering, urging an end to U.S.-backed violence and restrictions on aid delivery.[33]
Simon is astraight ally to theLGBTQ community, and serves as vice chair of theCongressional Equality Caucus.[25] She has worked with Democratic colleagues to defeatanti-trans legislation.[34] She co-sponsored a resolution for a "Rise Up for LGBTQI+ Youth in Schools Initiative" with representativeMark Takano and senatorBrian Schatz.[25] In May 2025, she co-signed a letter urging health and human services secretaryRobert F. Kennedy Jr. to preserveLGBTQ-specific services for youth calling the 988Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.[35]
Simon is the mother of two children.[12] Simon's husband, Kevin Weston, was a journalist and activist who died fromleukemia in 2014.[36] She isMuslim and legallyblind.[37][38]
| 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 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's 12th congressional district 2025–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 424th | Succeeded by |
