Kamala Harris Backs Karen Bass Re-Election in Los Angeles — Magic Johnson Karen Bass Endorsement
Kamala Harris gave her magic johnson karen bass endorsement on Monday, backing Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for reelection as ballots were already arriving in Californians’ mailboxes. The move adds a former vice president to a race that already has Bass leading in one March poll, but also facing deep voter dissatisfaction and better-funded challengers.
Harris said Bass is “the leader Los Angeles needs right now,” pointing to “the first ever two-year decline in homelessness,” crime at levels “this city hasn’t seen since the 1960s,” and Bass’s refusal to “back down when the federal government came after our neighbors.” She added: “She has my full support for re-election.”
Harris and Bass Since 2020
2020 put Harris and Bass on opposite sides of a bigger political decision, when they were rivals to be selected as presidential nominee Joe Biden’s running mate. They later moved into the same lane: Harris swore Bass in as the 43rd mayor of Los Angeles in 2022, and Bass spoke at the Democratic National Convention two years later about working with Harris more than a decade ago on youth homelessness and fixing the child welfare system.
More than two decades of acquaintance give this endorsement a different weight than a routine party statement. Harris is not just naming a favorite; she is publicly aligning with a mayor she has known through multiple stages of her own national career.
March Poll, April 18 Money
25% of voters backed Bass in a March poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies co-sponsored by The Times, while Nithya Raman drew 17% and Spencer Pratt 14%; another 25% were undecided. Bass was still the leader, but 56% of voters viewed her unfavorably, a reminder that first place in a crowded field does not equal a secure runway.
April 18 fundraising disclosures added another wrinkle: Pratt and Raman had raised more money than Bass. Bass still had nearly $2.3 million in the bank because she began fundraising for reelection two years ago, giving her a reserve advantage even as the new-money race tilted elsewhere.
Raman, Pratt, and Ballots
Nithya Raman and Spencer Pratt are not the kind of names usually grouped with a mayoral incumbent in the second-largest city in the country, yet both are part of the contest Harris just stepped into. Bass faces them and more in the Los Angeles mayoral race, and the endorsement arrives after ballots had already begun landing in mailboxes, which means the timing reaches voters while decisions are being made rather than after the fact.
Harris has now put her name behind Bass, Rob Bonta, Malia Cohen, and Eleni Kounalakis in the same Monday round of endorsements. For Bass, the practical effect is simple: she now has a nationally known Democrat arguing that her record on homelessness, crime, and local resistance should carry more weight than her unfavorable rating and the money gap on April 18.
