Photo: Getty Images
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rep. Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, announced 30 endorsements today from current and former elected officials in Southern California, including eight U.S. Congress members, four L.A. City Council members and two L.A. County supervisors.
Local government endorsements include Los Angeles councilmen Mike Bonin, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Curren Price and Mark Ridley-Thomas, as well as L.A. County supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Holly Mitchell.
Bonin and Ridley-Thomas announced their support for Bass within hours of her announcement Monday, with Bonin tweeting: “Karen Bass is the kind of leader Los Angeles needs. Vision. Brains. Heart. Skill. Conscience. Integrity. Hope. Karen Bass for Mayor.''
Ridley-Thomas said on Twitter, “Let's go! All in!! Proud of you!!!''
Bass also raked in endorsements from U.S. reps. Pete Aguilar, Judy Chu, Mike Levin, Ted Lieu, Alan Lowenthal, Katie Porter, Lucille Roybal-Allard and Juan Vargas.
Other endorsements include
-- California Sen. Steve Bradford;
-- California Sen. Sydney Kamlager;
-- Assemblyman Isaac Bryan;
-- Assemblywoman Autumn Burke;
-- Assemblyman Mike Gipson;
-- Assemblyman Chris Holden;
-- Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer;
-- Compton Mayor Emma Sharif ;
-- Carson Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes;
-- Long Beach City Councilmen Al Austin;
-- Long Beach City Councilman Rex Richardson;
-- Inglewood City Councilwoman Dionne Faulk;
-- West Hollywood Mayor Lindsey Horvath;
-- West Hollywood City Councilmember John Erickson;
-- retired U.S. Rep. Diane Watson;
-- retired California Assembly Speaker Emeritus John Perez;
-- retired California State Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal; and
-- retired L.A. County Supervisory Yvonne Braithwaite Burke.
“I'm honored to earn the endorsement of these esteemed leaders throughout Southern California at such an important time for our city. Their vocal and legislative advocacy on behalf of their constituents is the hallmark of strong leadership,'' Bass said in a statement Thursday. “It will take all of us, together, to address the crises at hand -- but I believe with a strong coalition, we can bring about the change that we need to put this city on the right track as we recover from this pandemic. I thank you again for your support.''
Bass announced her run on Monday, joining a field of high-profile officials seeking to succeed Mayor Eric Garcetti, who is barred for running for reelection because of term limits.
On her campaign website, Bass outlines her vision for the city, saying she will focus on homelessness, calling it “a public health and humanitarian crisis.''
Bass' website focuses heavily on the issue of homelessness, emphasizing the need to address “the root causes'' of the crisis, including through affordable housing, health care, job training, mental health services and drug and alcohol counseling.
Her focus on homelessness echoes the rest of the 2022 mayoral election's high-profile candidates, who include City Councilmen Joe Buscaino and Kevin de Leon, City Attorney Mike Feuer, Central City Association of Los Angeles President and CEO Jessica Lall and businessman Mel Wilson.
Garcetti, who is expected to leave office early pending the U.S. Senate's confirmation of his appointment to ambassador of India, said at an unrelated news conference Monday:
“I love Karen Bass and it's going to be a very exciting race with all sorts of candidates in it, and the nice thing about being a former mayor ... is that I'll get to assess the candidates and I get to be a voter, so I can't wait to hear what all the candidates have to say.''
Bass would be Los Angeles' first female mayor and only the second Black mayor, after Mayor Tom Bradley, who led the city from 1973 to 1993.
The 67-year-old Bass represents the 37th Congressional District, which encompasses Los Angeles neighborhoods west and southwest of downtown including Crenshaw, Baldwin Hills, Miracle Mile, Pico-Robertson, Century City, Cheviot Hills, West Los Angeles, Mar Vista and parts of Westwood, as well as Culver City and Inglewood.
Bass was a member of the Assembly from 2004-10, serving as its speaker from 2008-10.
The primary for the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election will take place on June 7, with the top two finishers squaring off in the election on Nov. 8.
Copyright 2021, City News Service, Inc.