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.
Early life and education
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.[1]
Fremont City Council
Mei was elected to Fremont City Council in 2014.[2]
Mayor of Fremont
In 2016, Mei campaigned to become mayor of Fremont against incumbent Bill Harrison.[2] The rate of development, traffic congestion, and class sizes of Fremont were among the most salient issues surrounding the election.[3] Mei positioned herself as a candidate who would "stop rampant development" while Harrison portrayed Mei as stopping all development.[3] On November 6, 2016,[2] she won the election becoming the first female and first Asian American mayor of Fremont.[3]
California State Senate campaign
After former state senator Bob Wieckowski termed out in 2022, Mei ran to fill his seat representing California's 10th senatorial district.[4] Special interest groups spent over $7 million on the election between Mei and competitor Aisha Wahab.[5] Mei's largest donors were charter school advocates and DaVita, while Wahab's largest donors were from labor unions.[6] On November 8, 2022, Mei lost the election.[7]
Personal life
Mei is married and has two children.[1]
References
- ^ a b Doran, Robin (July 2021). "Meet Mayor Lily Mei, City of Fremont". jointventure.org. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
- ^ a b c Geha, Joseph (2016-09-23). "Fremont mayor and vice mayor square off for top job". East Bay Times. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
- ^ a b c Geha, Joseph (2016-11-04). "Fremont: Lily Mei wins mayor's race, Bacon and Salwan take council seats". East Bay Times. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
- ^ Geha, Joseph (2022-04-30). "Big labor, developer money rolling into state Senate District 10 race". The Mercury News. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
- ^ Brennan, Martha (2022-11-05). "More than $7.7 million spent in East Bay state Senate race". The Mercury News. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
- ^ Christopher, Ben; Kamal, Sameea (2022-11-03). "A gusher of campaign cash: Industry groups give big in California legislative races". CalMatters. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
- ^ "2022 California State Senate Election Results | USA TODAY". www.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2025-03-06.