OAKLAND, CA – October 2, 2025 – She’s the blind Muslim trailblazer mentored by Kamala Harris herself, the self-proclaimed voice of the voiceless who swept into Congress on a wave of progressive promise just nine months ago. But now, whispers in Oakland’s shadowy activist underbelly are turning to roars: Freshman Rep. Lateefah Simon is a moderate mirage, a lackluster lightweight who’s traded her revolutionary roots for D.C. cocktail parties and compromise deals that leave the streets burning.
Sources close to the Bay Area’s radical core tell this tabloid bombshell that Simon’s honeymoon is over – and her 2026 primary could be a bloodbath. With her district stretching from Oakland’s gritty flatlands to Berkeley’s ivory towers, the 48-year-old ex-BART board president has racked up a resume that’s more missed votes than missed opportunities. Clocking in at a dismal 3.2% absence rate on roll calls – worse than the House median – Simon’s been MIA when it counts, say critics who accuse her of cozying up to the Democratic establishment while her constituents dodge bullets and evictions.
“She’s Barbara Lee‘s shadow without the spine,” snarls one anonymous organizer from the an anti-police terror organization, echoing the fury bubbling in group chats and back-alley strategy sessions. Lee’s legendary anti-war firebrand legacy looms large over CA-12, but Simon? “She’s all talk on Trump – ripping him for ‘apartheid’ vibes one day – then ghosting on the real fights like Gaza aid or defund-the-police follow-through.” Remember the 2020 uprisings that catapulted her? That defund momentum now smells like “fraud” to skeptics who say Simon’s BART days were more boardroom than barricade.
As Trump’s second-term shadow darkens the Bay – with ICE raids sparking “No Kings” marches drawing 10,000 strong in June – Oakland’s activist hive is buzzing with names ready to launch a left-wing coup. Insiders spill the tea on the top three insurgents plotting to primary the “rising star” who’s already drawing “in over her head” jeers online.
Who will it be? Buckle up, Oakland – the revolution’s eating its own.
SUSPECT #1: CAT BROOKS – THE ABOLITIONIST AVENGER
Picture this: A poet-warrior with a megaphone for a scepter, Cat Brooks stormed Oakland’s 2018 mayoral race on a platform of total police abolition and Black liberation. As executive director of the Justice Teams Network, she’s the queen bee of grassroots fury, turning street protests into seismic shifts. But does Simon’s “Back on Track” reentry program past – a Kamala Harris pet project – smell like reformist fluff to Brooks? “Cat’s been radio silent on Lateefah, but that’s the calm before the storm,” whispers a mutual ally. “She’s eyeing Congress to finish what the streets started – no more half-measures on cop budgets or tent cities.” If Brooks jumps in, expect poetry slams packed with primary petitions. Odds: Sky-high. She’s got the fire, the fame, and the fed-up flatlands voters who see Simon as too tame.
SUSPECT #2: DOMINIQUE LOVE – THE YOUTH QUAKE BOMBSHELL
At 32, Dominique A. Love is the fresh-faced firecracker who’s already flipped Oakland’s school board with her unapologetic takedowns of systemic racism. A queer Black organizer with ties to Oakland Rising’s voter machine – the group that mobilizes flatlands fury like clockwork – Love’s been vocal on everything from ICE raids to Trump’s “gerrymandering apocalypse.” Simon’s Gaza outrage? “Deplorable,” sure, but Love’s crew wants more than words – they want withheld arms deals and reparations now. “Dominique’s the Gen-Z gut punch Lateefah fears,” dishes a campaign whisperer. “She’s got the TikTok army and the teacher unions – perfect for calling out Simon’s ‘lackluster’ lame-duck vibes.” Primary plot twist: Love could siphon the youth vote, turning Simon’s “rising star” halo into a rusty relic. Watch this space – or the schoolyard chants.
SUSPECT #3: PAMELA DRAKE – THE ELDER STATESWOMAN OF OUTRAGE
Don’t sleep on the OG: Pamela Drake, the silver-haired sentinel of Oakland’s housing wars and anti-eviction armies. A fixture in every “No Kings” rally and Fruitvale solidarity shout, Drake’s been battling developers and Dem sellouts since the ’90s. Simon’s community project funding bids for FY26? Cute, but Drake calls BS on the “doom-loop” delays plaguing Oakland’s homeless crisis. “Pamela’s the one who remembers when Lateefah was ‘Teefie’ the organizer, not Congresswoman Compromise,” leaks a rally vet. With her Rolodex of rent-strike radicals, Drake could frame Simon as the ultimate gentrifier – blind to the block-level betrayals. At 70-something, she’s no spring chicken, but her outrage is evergreen. Primary payoff: A grizzled upset that’d make national headlines.
As filing deadlines loom for March 2026, Simon’s camp is scrambling – touting her Trump walkouts and Iran bombing blasts as progressive proof. But in Oakland’s activist cauldron, where “progressive” means prison abolition yesterday, Simon’s moderate mirage is cracking. Will it be Brooks’ blaze, Love’s lightning, or Drake’s thunder? One thing’s certain: The Bay’s betrayal ballad is just beginning, and Lateefah’s got front-row seats to her own potential downfall.
SUSPECT #4: JEAN QUAN – THE REVOLUTIONARY RUNAWAY MAYOR
Oh, the plot thickens with a blast from Oakland’s fiery past! Jean Quan, the trailblazing former mayor who shattered glass ceilings as the city’s first Asian American and female chief executive from 2011 to 2015, is no stranger to the barricades. This 75-year-old civil rights warrior cut her teeth in the ’60s student uprisings, marching for everything from anti-war fury to AAPI empowerment. But after her ouster amid Occupy Oakland chaos – where tear gas flew and tents toppled – Quan’s been lurking in the shadows as a relentless advocate for economic justice and neighborhood warriors. Now, with Simon’s “lackluster” term fumbling the ball on flatlands evictions and cop reform, insiders whisper Quan’s got the itch to reclaim her throne – this time in D.C. “Jean’s the original progressive powerhouse Lateefah idolized, but now she’s seeing the sellout,” confides a longtime ally from her school board days. Picture Quan storming primaries with tales of battling developers and Dem dinosaurs, rallying the Asian enclaves and elder activists who view Simon’s Harris ties as too centrist for the crisis. At her age? It’s the ultimate comeback kid saga – odds of a Quan coup? Electric, if she trades tweets for town halls.
SUSPECT #5: LIZ SUK – THE FLATLANDS FURY QUEEN
Enter the grassroots goddess who’s been grinding for 25 years without a single spotlight steal: Liz Suk, executive director of Oakland Rising and its fire-breathing arm, Oakland Rising Action. This unassuming powerhouse has mobilized the East and West Oakland underbelly – the flatlands forgotten by hilltop elites – turning voter apathy into avalanches of progressive wins since the ’90s. From anti-ICE voter drives to tenant takeover endorsements in the 2025 special election chaos, Suk’s the invisible hand puppeteering the resistance. But Simon’s moderate meanderings? They’ve got Suk’s network seething – ghosting on defund follow-ups while encampments explode under Trump’s shadow. “Liz doesn’t chase cameras; she builds armies,” spills a Rising rally vet. “She’s the one whispering ‘primary time’ in those packed strategy huddles, ready to unleash the flatlands vote that crowned Lateefah but could crown her next.” With a Rolodex of BIPOC blocs and a rep for no-BS ballot boxing, Suk’s the sleeper hit who could turn Simon’s star into a black hole. Primary peril: Imminent, if the whispers go viral.
SUSPECT #6: QUINN DELANEY – THE JUSTICE JUGGERNAUT PHILANTHROPIST
Money meets mayhem in the form of Quinn Delaney, the steel-willed founder and board chair of the Akonadi Foundation – Oakland’s racial justice war chest since 2000. This Bay Area billionaire builder (hello, Delaney Collaborative cash flow) has funneled fortunes into smashing structural racism, from cop-abolition crews to creative resistance squads, all while co-chairing the charge for a “racially just Oakland” where love trumps lockdown. Honored in halls of fame for her half-century hustle, Delaney’s no armchair donor – she’s the deep-pocketed dynamo who’s bankrolled the very movements Simon once led but now lags behind. As Gaza grief grips the district and Simon’s aid votes vanish into D.C. fog, tabloid tipsters say Delaney’s eyeing her own electoral empire: “Quinn’s poured millions into the fight Lateefah’s fumbling – why not lead it herself?” leaks a foundation fixture. With checkbook clout to flood airwaves and activist alliances that make PACs blush, this philanthropist powerhouse could rebrand as the unbuyable insurgent, slamming Simon as the establishment echo. Primary punch: Devastating, darling – her war chest alone could bankrupt the betrayals!
Stay tuned, truth-seekers – this primary powder keg could explode Oakland’s political powder blue sky!
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