Bock, a Former Green, Joins Democrats

Former state Assemblywoman Audie Bock, who shocked the Democratic establishment by winning her seat as a Green Party member in a special election last year, has become a Democrat.

Bock, who left the Greens to become an independent and then lost a reelection effort Nov. 7, is not saying if the latest switch is a strategic move toward eventual pursuit of another office.

She had represented the 16th District of Oakland, Alameda and Piedmont.

Bock announced her party change at a meeting of the Metropolitan Oakland Democratic Club, which endorsed her victorious rival, former county Supervisor Wilma Chan.

“I just adopted a party affiliation. I did not have one,” Bock 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 the past two campaigns.”

She said she wanted to join the Democratic Party earlier, but she couldn’t if she wanted to run in 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 after Dec. 4, her last day in office.

“The area in which I live and did represent in the state Assembly is about 65% 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.