Berkeley Congressman
Ron Dellums
The election of Ron Dellums to Congress in 1970 as an anti-Vietnam War candidate began an era in which Berkeley progressives finally stopped losing.
He was the inspiration for coalition politics that fundamentally changed both the Berkeley and Oakland City Councils. (Detractors falsely called it the Dellums machine.)
Free to speak and vote his principles Dellums became known as the Conscience of the Congress. His lonely efforts at sanctions against apartheid South Africa eventually became American policy.
Nelson Mandela held a huge rally in the Oakland Colosseum to thank Dellums for helping to set him and all of South Africa free.
Congressman Dellums served in the House from 1971 until resigning in 1997. Representative Barbara Lee is his able successor.
Since I first got into Berkeley politics registering voters to support Ron Dellums for Congress, this is a fitting point point for me to end this history of local elections. The website will not be further updated, but it remains to tell the story, along with "Berkeley In the 70s".
