Features

OAKLAND — A former state Assembly member has changed her party affiliation once again, but she’s not saying if it’s a strategic move to eventually pursue another office. 

Audie Bock, who once represented the 16th District of Oakland, Alameda and Piedmont, last week announced she’s switched from Independent to a Democrat. Bock, a former Green Party member who shocked the Democratic establishment when she won a special Assembly election last year, lost Nov. 7 to former county Supervisor Wilma Chan, a Democrat. 

Bock announced her party change at a Metropolitan Oakland Democratic Club meeting. She also joined the organization, which endorsed Chan, on the spot. 

“I just adopted a party affiliation. I did not have one,” she said Monday. “I don’t have any specific political plans. I simply wanted to be able to work more closely with the people who had supported me in past two campaigns.” 

She said she wanted to join the Democratic Party earlier, but she couldn’t if she wanted to run for the November election. Candidates have to be registered with a party at least a year before running for office. Bock said she changed her affiliation just after Dec. 4, her last day in office. 

“The area in which I live and did represent in the state Assembly is about 65 percent Democrat by population,” she said. “The people that I have worked with in politics have been largely Democrat.” 

Chan’s seat will be up for election in two years, but Bock said she has not decided if she would be interested in running.