Election 2024: Longtime politico could land Santa Clara County D5 seat

Sally Lieber jumped into politics at age 13, rallying in Detroit for former Michigan state Sen. Doug Ross between delivering newspapers. She caught the political bug early, and since then has held numerous posts in California. This November she wants to add another achievement to her lengthy resume: Santa Clara County supervisor.

Lieber, 63, is competing against Mountain View Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga for the open District 5 seat on the Board of Supervisors, with Supervisor Joe Simitian terming out this year. Lieber and Abe-Koga were the top vote getters advancing after the March primary election. District 5 includes Mountain View, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Palo Alto and a small section of San Jose.

Lieber expected more people with political experience to vie for the job, and when that didn’t happen she knew she had to run. If elected in November, her move from the California State Board of Equalization, a tax administration agency, to county supervisor couldn’t be more different. Lieber represents about 10 million state residents where she votes on tax issues. If elected supervisor, she would represent around 392,500 residents in one county and decide on local issues ranging from health care to jails.

No problem, she said. Lieber’s motto has always been: “I can be dangerous anywhere.”

“I may not win, but I am a master at (this). I’m a master policymaker and I’m a master campaigner,” she told San José Spotlight. “I’m now so much stronger than I was in the past.”

Lieber’s political career spans multiple stretches with the Mountain View City Council, getting her start as a Stanford University undergraduate student studying public policy. She also attended San Francisco City and Foothill colleges. After her first successful city council run where she served from 1998 to 2002, she was elected to the state Assembly from 2002 to 2008 and appointed Democratic speaker pro tempore from 2007 to 2008. She authored a bill to raise California’s minimum wage from $6.75 to $8 an hour over about two years — a difficult endeavor under Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Lieber’s priorities for supervisor include homelessness and affordable housing, health care and mental health and affordable child care. She supports safe parking and sanctioned encampment sites for homeless residents, but said the county and its cities need to provide more permanent housing after people are placed in temporary housing sites.

As someone who has struggled with depression, she plans to examine the inpatient bed needs at mental health facilities and incentivize residents to use mental health services at hospitals. She aims to strengthen existing services and programs already funded rather than throwing money at new ones, using her past experience.

“It’s really exciting to me to look at the tie-in (between county and state),” she said. “Even though I’m out of the Legislature, I’ve continued to have bills, some signed by governors, so I think there’s a real crossover that’s powerful.”

Lieber’s path to government was atypical. She moved to San Francisco from Michigan in her 20s to pursue opportunities in the building industry, her whole life packed in her car. She said she was often the only woman in the room. After moving to politics, she spent three years helping refugees in Greece from 2015 to 2018, traveling to and from the country.

Despite Lieber’s unusual career, locals have paid attention to her.

Former Mountain View Mayor Lenny Siegel has endorsed and encouraged Lieber’s run for supervisor after nearly two decades of knowing her. He said Abe-Koga isn’t as supportive of housing justice as Lieber, who supported his referendum against restrictions on people living in RVs.

“We really need leaders who will step up and make the hard decisions,” he told San José Spotlight. “Simitian did it and we need somebody to take his place who will continue to do it.”

California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, San Jose Councilmembers Domingo Candelas and Peter Ortiz and the South Bay Progressive Alliance have also endorsed Lieber.

Palo Alto resident Forest Peterson, a Stanford University civil and environmental engineering research affiliate, spends his weekends knocking on doors for Lieber. He said both candidates could be role models for his daughters as strong women in power, but he thinks Lieber is better for Stanford.

“She’s got the street cred, where she’s put shoes on the ground,” he told San José Spotlight.

Lieber said her career has been a long journey, which she hopes to continue as a supervisor.

“I just feel like for a little girl from Detroit who delivered that many newspapers before school and after school and everything, I’m doing pretty well,” she told San José Spotlight. “I get to be in these great offices doing real things. It’s super exciting.”

Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X, formerly known as Twitter.