The Los Angeles Assemblyman becomes the latest California elected official to support Lee’s history-making campaign

OAKLAND, CA — Today, Congresswoman and U.S. Senate candidate Barbara Lee announced the endorsement of California Assemblymember Isaac Bryan.

Bryan was elected to represent Assembly District 55 in 2021, succeeding then-Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove. In 2020, he co-chaired the Measure J campaign in Los Angeles County to deliver nearly a billion dollars of the county’s annual budget to address racial injustice. The measure was approved by over 2.1 million voters. Bryan was previously the executive director of UCLA’s Black Policy Project, served as the first Director of Public Policy for the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center, and headed up the Public Policy Division for Million Dollar Hoods, which seeks to map the costs of mass incarceration in Los Angeles and the United States.

“Congresswoman Lee has been a fighter for Californians and a champion for justice her entire career,” said Bryan. “She doesn’t just talk about making a difference – she actually does it. From leading on criminal justice reform to fighting to end poverty to passing legislation that protects the most vulnerable in our country, she’s the fighter for equity and justice we need now. I know that in the U.S. Senate she’ll continue to deliver real change that moves our country forward for the next generation. I’m proud and excited to endorse her.”

“Assemblymember Bryan has been on the frontlines in the fight for justice, and I’m honored to have earned his support and trust,” said Lee. “In the U.S. Senate, I’ll fight every day to advance our progressive values – that healthcare and housing are a human right, that students should be able to afford college and not live with a lifetime of debt, that we address the climate crisis now for our children and their children. Californians and the American people deserve a progressive leader with a proven track record of results and the legislative experience needed to move our country forward. That’s who I am, and that’s exactly what I’ll do.”

Bryan joins a growing list of high-profile elected officials from around the state that have endorsed Lee’s campaign for Senate, including five of the eight statewide constitutional officers – Attorney General Rob Bonta, Treasurer Fiona Ma, Controller Malia Cohen, Secretary of State Shirley Weber, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.

Other national and California endorsers of Lee’s campaign include Congressmembers Jamaal Bowman, Sheila Jackson Lee, Steven Horsford, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Troy Carter, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Nikema Williams, Jim Clyburn, Bennie Thompson, Lucy McBath, Terri Sewell, and Gregory Meeks, former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Cedric Richmond, former Georgia General Assembly House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, State Senators Susan Talamantes Eggman, Anna Caballero and Nancy Skinner, Assemblymembers Mia Bonta and Corey Jackson, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, San Bernardino Mayor Helen Tran, Redlands Mayor Eddie Tejeda, Rialto Mayor Deborah Robertson, former Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Palm Desert Mayor Pro Tem Karina Quintanilla, Dolores Huerta, California Democratic Party Asian Pacific Islander Caucus Chair Deepa Sharma, California Democratic Party Progressive Caucus Chair Emeritus Amar Shergill, California Democratic Party LGBTQ Caucus Co-Chair Emeritus Tiffany Woods.

Lee also has the backing of the Alameda County Building and Construction Trades Council, California Legislative Black Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, Feminist Majority PAC, Black Women Organized for Political Action PAC, and Higher Heights for America.

There are currently no Black women serving in the U.S. Senate. Since 1789, when the first Congress met, only two African American women have been in the Senate, serving a total of 10 years.