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Lily Mei

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Lily Mei
Official portrait
Mayor of Fremont, California
In office
2016–2024
Preceded byBill Harrison
Succeeded byRaj Salwan
Fremont City Council
In office
2014–2016
Personal details
Political partyDemocratic[1]
Children2
EducationDrexel University

Lily Mei is an American politician who served as mayor of Fremont, California. She was elected mayor in November 2016, becoming the first female and first Asian American mayor of Fremont.

Life and career

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Mei was born in Chicago and moved to Philadelphia at three years old. She attended Drexel University, earning a Bachelor of Science in business administration. She moved to Fremont in 1994 with her husband, with whom she has two children.[2] Mei began her involvement in politics as a Fremont school board member in 2008 and was reelected in 2012.[3] Mei was elected to Fremont City Council in 2014.[4]

In 2016, Mei campaigned to become mayor of Fremont against incumbent Bill Harrison.[4] The rate of development, traffic congestion, and class sizes of Fremont were among the most salient issues surrounding the election.[5] Mei positioned herself as a candidate who would "stop rampant development", using the slogan prominently in her campaign, while Harrison portrayed Mei as stopping all development.[5] On November 6, 2016,[4] she won the election becoming the first female and first Asian American mayor of Fremont,[5] and ultimately served two terms from 2016 to 2024.[5][6]

In the wake of the George Floyd's murder, protests against police brutality occurred across America including Fremont. At a march, Mei refused to kneel with protesters, later explaining that she only kneels when praying.[7] In response, protesters demonstrated outside Mei's home a month later, demanding a reduction in police funding.[8] After former state senator Bob Wieckowski termed out in 2022, Mei ran to fill his seat representing California's 10th senatorial district.[9] She won the primary along with Hayward councilwoman Aisha Wahab.[10]

During the campaign, Mei was labelled anti-LGBTQ by the Alameda County Democratic Party for voting against recognizing Harvey Milk Day on school calendars and not voting to include queer authors in an AP English curriculum. She became ineligible for the party's endorsement and Democrats could be reprimanded for publicly supporting her. In response, Mei said she preferred celebrating more local activists than Harvey Milk and never banned LGBTQ books from Fremont schools.[11] Special interest groups spent over $7 million on the election.[12] Mei's largest donors were charter school advocates and DaVita, while Wahab's largest donations were from labor unions.[13] On November 8, 2022, Mei lost the election.[14]

References

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  1. ^ "About Lily". Lily Mei for State Senate 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2025.
  2. ^ Doran, Robin (July 2021). "Meet Mayor Lily Mei, City of Fremont". jointventure.org. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
  3. ^ Geha, Joseph (June 2, 2021). "Fremont Mayor Lily Mei running for District 10 State Senate seat". The Mercury News. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c Geha, Joseph (September 23, 2016). "Fremont mayor and vice mayor square off for top job". East Bay Times. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d Geha, Joseph (November 4, 2016). "Fremont: Lily Mei wins mayor's race, Bacon and Salwan take council seats". East Bay Times. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
  6. ^ "Fremont Mayor Lily Mei Wins 2nd Term To Lead Bay Area's 4th Largest City - CBS San Francisco". www.cbsnews.com. November 4, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2025.
  7. ^ "Fremont mayor addresses refusal to kneel, as hundreds march to police headquarters". ABC7 San Francisco. June 5, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2025.
  8. ^ Geha, Joseph (July 7, 2020). "Protesters gather in front of Fremont mayor's home, demand police defunding". The Mercury News. Retrieved March 8, 2025.
  9. ^ Geha, Joseph (April 30, 2022). "Big labor, developer money rolling into state Senate District 10 race". The Mercury News. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
  10. ^ Christopher, Ben (April 18, 2022). "State Senate Hot Races - Voter Guide 2022". CalMatters. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  11. ^ Bajko, Matthew S. (February 2, 2022). "CA Senate candidate Mei trailed by anti-LGBTQ label". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved March 8, 2025.
  12. ^ Brennan, Martha; Rowan, Harriet Blair (November 5, 2022). "More than $7.7 million spent in East Bay state Senate race". The Mercury News. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
  13. ^ Christopher, Ben; Kamal, Sameea (November 3, 2022). "A gusher of campaign cash: Industry groups give big in California legislative races". CalMatters. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
  14. ^ "2022 California State Senate Election Results | USA TODAY". www.usatoday.com. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Fremont, California
2016–2024 		Succeeded by
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