Otto Lee

In 2008 he qualified in the June primary to compete to represent District 3 on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, but lost to David Cortese in the November general election, receiving 45.2% of votes cast to Cortese's 55.8%. of the votes[9]

On March 27, 2012, Lee announced his candidacy for California's 22nd Congressional District seat to challenge incumbent Representative Devin Nunes, Republican of Tulare.[10] This district covers areas of Fresno and Tulare counties, both located in California's San Joaquin Valley.[10]

Lee and Nunes were the only candidates in the June 6 nonpartisan primary, in which Lee placed second with 30.1 percent to Nunes's 69.9 percent.[11] On November 6, Nunes won the general election with 132,386 votes (61.9 percent) to Lee's 81,555 votes (38.1 percent).[12]

In 2020, Lee was among four candidates for the open District 3 seat of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to replace the termed-out Dave Cortese.[13] In the March 3, 2020 top-two primary election, Lee finished in second place with 29 percent of the vote behind sitting assemblymember Kansen Chu, who had 31.5 percent. of the vote[14] That fall, Lee earned 60.5% of the vote to decisively defeat Chu in the general election.[15]

Lee has shown an immense commitment to sustainability and environmental justice, leading the push for the creation of a County sustainability commission.[17] In July 2021, Lee supported a initiative to address concerns over rising sea levels in the region. The initiative involves developing plans to protect critical infrastructure, such as roads and water treatment facilities, and encouraging the use of renewable energy sources.[18]

In response to the rise of gun violence across the nation Supervisor Lee has overseen the expansion of the Santa Clara County gun buyback program. The program allows individuals to turn in their firearms in exchange for cash or gift cards. The collected firearms are then destroyed to prevent them from being used in violent crimes or to self harm. This program led to the recovery of over 400 firearms in the City of Milpitas, California in May 2022.[19] Following the success of the program in Milpitas, Supervisor Lee Co-hosted another gun buyback event in the City of Morgan Hill, California that collected another 289 firearms in December 2022.[20]

In January 2022 Supervisor Lee and Supervisor Susan Ellenberg jointly declared that the state of mental health and substance abuse in the region constituted a public health crisis.[21] Lee made mental health his top priority of 2022, authoring and sponsoring numerous pieces of legislation that led to investments of tens of million dollars to create more mental healthcare options in the county.[22] Since becoming Vice President of the Board in 2023, the board has further committed to increasing the number of beds. The county has a goal of adding 500 behavioral health treatment beds by 2025.[23]

In response to the Fentanyl overdose crisis in the San Francisco Bay Area and nationally, Supervisor Lee authored a proposal to provide the opioid overdose antidote, Naloxone or Narcan, at Santa Clara County Library District locations.[24] The program involves a massive public outreach on the benefits of Narcan, training county librarians to administer the drug and providing the library locations with kits. When it was approved, Santa Clara County became the first county in the nation to offer Narcan at public libraries.[25]

In addition to the push for greater availability of Narcan in public spaces Supervisor Lee has called for a rapid increase in pathways for careers in drug counseling, and has pushed for mass increase of the number of beds available for Drug detoxification and Drug rehabilitation at the county and State level.[26]

In 2021, Lee co-hosted the first Community Homeless Conference through the community based organization, Hope for the Unhoused.[27] The event brought together unhoused advocates, non profit leaders and community stakeholders to discuss ways to address homelessness and improve access to housing for those in need. Lee's efforts have also been instrumental in securing $40 million in funding from Santa Clara County to jumpstart numerous unhoused housing sites.[28]

Additionally, Lee has supported the opening of new tiny houses for homeless families in the county.[29]

In response to the rapid rise of Anti-Asian hate crimes in the Bay Area, Supervisor Lee introduced a slew of proposals to research and combat hate crimes against the county’s Asian and Asian-American population.[30] Lee’s proposals were adopted unanimously by the Board and created a community outreach and education campaign against race-based violence against Asians, and began work on federal and legislative advocacy to encourage proposals that focus on racial justice and hate crime prevention.[31]

In 2021, following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Supervisor Lee expressed support for Afghan refugees and called for the county to provide resources to help them resettle.[32]

Since the outbreak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Supervisor Lee has been a vocal critic of Russia and a prominent supporter of Ukraine. While on a legislative recess-Lee volunteered in Poland providing aid to recently arrived Ukrainian refugees.[33] The  experience deeply affected Lee- who quickly began working with the Congressional Office for International Leadership, leading to Santa Clara County hosting a Ukraine Open World Program Delegation in May 2023. The Delegation was the first international delegation that the County of Santa Clara welcomed since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ukraine Consul General Dmytro Kushneruk attended portions of the delegation program, and Consul Anna Zaichencko attended and spoke at a Ukraine flag raising at the County Government Center honoring the delegation and solidarity with Ukraine.[34]