OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) — Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) announced her bid for Senate to fill the seat of retiring Senator Dianne Feinstein.

“To do nothing has never been an option for me. When my high school said cheerleaders couldn’t be Black, I took them on. I worked with the NAACP, and earned my spot as the school’s first black cheerleader,” Lee said in a video released Tuesday morning.  “When there weren’t protections for survivors of domestic violence, I wrote California’s first Violence Against Women Act. When it was legal to discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community, I wrote the Hate Crimes Reduction Act…I don’t quit. I don’t give up. That’s not in my DNA…When you stand on the side of justice, you don’t quit if they don’t give you a seat at the table. You bring a folding chair for everyone, and they are here to stay.”

Lee, 76, has served as California’s 12th Congressional District representative for the past 13 years and is an ally of Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) She attended Mills College in Oakland and UC Berkeley.

“I’m running for US Senate because Californians deserve a strong, progressive leader who has accomplished real things and delivered real change,” Lee said. “Californians have my word that, whether it’s the climate crisis, solutions to homelessness, lifting people out of poverty, easing the burden on the middle class, protecting our Democracy, standing up for reproductive freedom, or ensuring our civil and human rights, I will never back down from fighting for what’s right.”

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who has drawn the support of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), who raised $1.3 million in the first 24 hours after announcing her candidacy, are also in the running for Feinstein’s seat.