Sandré Swanson (born November 28, 1948) is an American politician who served as a member of the California State Assembly for the 16th district from 2006 to 2012.

Early life and education

Swanson was born in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

. He earned an associate degree in psychology from Oakland City College and a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

Career

Swanson began his political career in 1971 as a member of the Oakland Anti-Poverty Board. He later worked as the advance team manager for

Shirley Chisholm Shirley Anita Chisholm ( ; ; November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was an American politician who, in 1968, became the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress. Chisholm represented New York's 12th congressional dist ...

's 1972 presidential campaign. From 1973 to 1998, he served as a district director and a senior policy advisor to then Congressman-

Ron Dellums Ronald Vernie Dellums (November 24, 1935 – July 30, 2018) was an American politician who served as Mayor of Oakland from 2007 to 2011. He had previously served thirteen terms as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California ...

. Swanson later served as chief of staff to Congresswoman

Barbara Lee Barbara Jean Lee (; born July 16, 1946) is an American politician who has served as the 52nd mayor of Oakland since 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Lee previously served as a United States House of Repr ...

. He endorsed

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

in the 2008 presidential election. In 2024 Sandré Swanson ran for California's 7th State Senatorial district, ending up in fifth place in the primary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swanson, Sandre 1948 births Living people 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century California politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century members of the California State Legislature African-American state legislators in California Candidates in the 2024 United States elections Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly Laney College alumni Politicians from Oakland, California San Francisco State University alumni