Confirming what was already looking likely earlier this week, recent former Congresswoman Barbara Lee announced Wednesday that she will, indeed, be running for mayor of Oakland in an April special election.It was already looking like it was in the cards on Monday when we learned that just-retired East Bay Congresswoman Barbara Lee had opened a campaign account for a mayoral bid in Oakland. And heeding the call from a group of city leaders last month to step into the role as the city faces a tumultuous year (or two), Lee is making her bid official today. A special election is set to be held on April 15 to fill the job vacated by Mayor Sheng Thao last month, after her recall in November."Look, they say Oakland is a mess. I hear this all the time. Our problems are too large to be solved," Lee begins a campaign video posted today on a new mayoral campaign website. "They say that we're a city divided. But let's show them, we are one Oakland."Lee, who is seen as a near shoe-in for the mayor's job in a special election featuring mostly unfamiliar names, spent 26 years representing Oakland in the House of Representatives. And her campaign video calls upon the act she's most well known for, which is her lonely, solo vote against launching the war in Afghanistan in 2001. But she also discusses Oakland's particular troubles as a city. "Time and time again, Oaklanders have faced our toughest obstacles by uniting to meet our challenges," Lee said in a statement. “At this critical moment, we must not be a city divided, but a community united."“If elected I will bring my hands-on leadership, new ideas and decades of experience in identifying billions in resources for our great city, so all residents and businesses are stronger and safer and our community has optimism and confidence in Oakland’s future," she added.Lee is now seeking donations to her mayoral campaign, which will need to be a swift one in just three months time. Her challengers will include former City Councilmember Loren Taylor, who narrowly lost to Thao in the 2022 election.Previously: Barbara Lee Takes a Formal Step Toward a Running For Mayor of OaklandTop image: Representative Barbara Lee attends The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 53rd Annual Legislative Conference Annual Phoenix Awards Dinner at Walter E. Washington Convention Center on September 14, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Congressional Black Caucus Foundation )