Bass receives endorsement from EMILY’s List

EMILY’s List, which endorses pro-abortion rights women running for public office, placed its weight behind Rep. Karen Bass’s (D-Calif.) bid to become the next mayor of Los Angeles.

“For more than 16 years, Karen Bass has been Los Angeles’ fiercest advocate, both in the halls of Sacramento and Washington, D.C,” EMILY’s List President Laphonza Butler said in a statement on Thursday. 

“As mayor, we know Karen will bring people together to find progressive solutions to the complex issues facing her city, including COVID-19 recovery and the homelessness crisis. If elected, Karen would become the first Black woman to hold the office of mayor of Los Angeles, and EMILY’s List is thrilled to stand with her historic campaign,” Butler added in her statement.

The mission of @emilyslist is more urgent now than ever, and I’m tremendously grateful to be able to count on their partnership now, just as I was able to 17 years ago when I first ran for a seat in the California State Assembly.

Thank you for standing with me. https://t.co/0hbHXvscRV

— Karen Bass (@KarenBassLA) October 7, 2021

Since Bass officially entered Los Angeles’s mayoral race in late September, she has garnered endorsements from a handful of California Democrats, including Reps. Pete Aguilar, Judy Chu, Mike Levin, Ted Lieu, Alan Lowenthal, Katie Porter, Lucille Roybal-Allard and Juan Vargas, according to her campaign website.

Last week, she also secured an endorsement from former California Sen. Barbara Boxer (D).

Last year, the six-term House member was considered among a handful of potential running mate picks for then-presidential candidate Joe Biden. Biden ultimately chose then-California Sen. Kamala Harris (D). She was also among a bipartisan group of lawmakers negotiating legislation on police reform, though they announced last month that those talks fell threw.

Biden tapped Los Angeles’s current mayor, Eric Garcetti (D), to be the U.S. ambassador to India in July, though his nomination has not yet been confirmed yet in the Senate. 

Several other Democratic candidates are also vying for the mayoral bid, including Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer and City Councilman Joe Buscaino.