'I'm Ready': Rep. Karen Bass Running For LA Mayor
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Rep. Karen Bass made it official Monday – she's running for mayor of Los Angeles.
"With my whole heart, I'm ready. Let's do this – together. I'm running for mayor," Bass said in a tweet, just a few days after reports surfaced that she was planning to run. Her campaign website also went live Monday morning to recruit volunteers, endorsements, and supporters.
With my whole heart, I'm ready. Let's do this -- together.
— Karen Bass (@KarenBassLA) September 27, 2021
I'm running for mayor.https://t.co/CLkJfFddHT
Bass, 67, is running to replace Mayor Eric Garcetti, who is taking an ambassadorship to India. Garcetti's decision to take the post would make him the first LA mayor to voluntarily leave office before the end of his term in more than a century.
The LA native is a trailblazing veteran lawmaker, having spent time in California's State Assembly and serving as the state's Speaker in 2008 – the first-ever African American woman in the country to serve in that capacity. She was elected to her sixth term in Congress last November.
During the 2020 presidential election, she was considered and vetted to be Joe Biden's running mate, a role that eventually went to former California Senator Kamala Harris.
If elected, Bass would be the city's first female mayor, and only the second Black mayor, after Tom Bradley.
"The field of candidates, itself, is filled with people who have high name recognition.," said Jennifer Cryer, Ph.D, an associate professor at the University of Southern California. "So it's not like she has any particular huge advantage her opponents or potential opponents."
The list includes LA City Attorney Mike Feuer who says he wants to increase the police force to 10,000 and have a series of debates over the homelessness crisis.
Other candidates include LA City councilmen Kevin de Leon and Joe Buscaino, former Metro board member Mel Wilson, and Central City Association of LA President and CEO Jessica Lall.