California Democratic Rep. Karen Bass on Monday launched a campaign for mayor of Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest city.
“Our city is facing a public health, safety and economic crisis in homelessness that has evolved into a humanitarian emergency,” Bass, 67, said in a statement. “I’ve spent my entire life bringing groups of people together in coalitions to solve complex problems and produce concrete change — especially in times of crisis. Los Angeles is my home. With my whole heart, I’m ready. Let’s do this — together. I’m running for mayor.”
Current Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is ineligible to run for mayor again in 2022 due to term limits. Earlier this year, President Joe Biden nominated Garcetti to be ambassador to India, and his confirmation is pending Senate approval.
Bass, a former chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus first elected to the House in 2010, announced her run for mayor after bipartisan negotiations on a federal police reform bill fell apart last week. Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina were also top negotiators on the bill.
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“We accepted significant compromises, knowing that they would be a tough sell to our community, but still believing that we would be moving the needle forward on this issue,” Bass said in a statement last week. “But every time, more was demanded to the point that there would be no progress made in the bill that we were left discussing.”
She called on the White House to take executive action to restrict use of chokeholds and “no-knock warrants” by federal officers.
Biden considered Bass a potential running mate in the 2020 election. The under-the-radar choice was pushed by House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina as one of several black female politicians who could round out the Democratic ticket.
News reports about Bass praising the Church of Scientology at an opening for its Los Angeles headquarters in 2010 and a 2017 eulogy for a former top Communist Party USA member were widely believed to hurt her vice presidential chances.
Prior to joining Congress, Bass was the first black female speaker of the California State Assembly.
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Bass joins what is shaping up to be a crowded Democratic mayoral field ahead of a June 2022 primary. Other announced candidates include Los Angeles City Councilmen Kevin de Leon and Joe Buscaino, as well as Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer.
Bass’s mayoral run will make her deeply Democratic House district an open seat in the 2022 midterm elections. Though with California dropping from 53 seats to 52 after the 2022 elections, it’s unclear what the contours of her current district will be.
