Ronald Dellums (born November 24, 1935), U.S. Democratic Party politician, was a U.S. Representative from California from 1971 until 1999. Dellums was the first African American elected to Congress from Northern California. In 2000, he published his memoirs Lying Down With the Lions. In October 2005, reportedly after weeks of deliberation and speculation, Dellums announced that he would run for mayor of Oakland. The current mayor, former California Governor Jerry Brown, is term-limited and currently running for California Attorney General.
