Kamala Harris Endorses Bass As L.A. Mayoral Race Heats Up

LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass picked up an endorsement from former Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday in the increasingly, contentious fight to keep her job as the 2026 mayoral election heats up.

"Mayor Karen Bass is the leader Los Angeles needs right now. She has done what so many said couldn’t be done — the first ever two-year decline in homelessness, reducing crime to levels this city hasn’t seen since the 1960s, and refusing to back down when the federal government came after our neighbors," Harris said in a statement. "She has my full support for re-election.

The Los Angeles mayor's primary race is nonpartisan, and historically Democrats have been elected, but the GOP has taken aim at Los Angeles before, with Republican billionaire Rick Caruso launching one of the most competitive challenges for Los Angeles Mayor in 2022.

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Bass is also currently facing challenges in her re-election bid from within her own party after Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman launched her campaign last month. Former reality TV star Spencer Pratt has also gained support and received notable donations last week, including Los Angeles Lakers' controlling owner Jeanie Buss who contributed $1,800 to his campaign, the maximum amount allowed by law.

For many, Harris' endorsement of Bass comes as no surprise as the two share a history of political allyship in California politics over the last two decades. Before she was a U.S. Senator, Harris was the state attorney general. And Bass, a former U.S. congresswoman who represented Los Angeles from 2011 to 2022, was the state's former Assembly Speaker. Both made history in California when Harris became the first Black woman elected attorney general in 2010 and Bass was the first Black woman in the state to be elected Assembly Speaker.

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Though Bass is currently leading in most polls, she trailed in fundraising compared to her rivals. From January to April 27, Bass raised about $495,000 for her campaign, compared to Pratt and Raman who have each raised more than $530,000, according to data from the Los Angeles Ethics Commission.

Bass' campaign is also hampered by lingering backlash over the Pacific Palisades fire. A recent poll showed about 56 percent of California voters viewed her unfavorably over her response to the blaze, which destroyed hundreds of Southern California homes. Bass was in Ghana when the deadly fires erupted. Her challenger Pratt was homeowner also affected by the Palisades fire.

On his campaign website, Pratt calls himself "Karen Bass' Worst Nightmare" and paints his Democratic challenger as a status quo incumbent. He also released new campaign advertisements last week taking aim at Bass and Raman comparing their homes to where other Angelenos live.

"This is where Mayor Bass lives. Do you notice something? Or here, where Nithya Raman's $3 million mansion sits. They don't have to live in the mess they've created," he says in the ad.

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Both Bass and Raman slammed Pratt after the ad was released, which GOP leaders say resonates with Angelenos.

"Spencer is doing his best Trump impression but it's not going to work in LA," Alex Stack, a spokesperson for Bass, told The Daily Signal.

Raman's campaign told CBS News, "Spencer Pratt plays directly from the Donald Trump playbook — incendiary language, fearmongering, and political stunts meant to divide and distract."

A survey conducted by FM3 Research between March 15-29 showed Bass leading the race with 25 percent of support among voters, Raman with 9 percent and Pratt with 11 percent. The poll was sponsored by UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. A similar poll conducted by University of California Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies showed Bass leading with 25 percent, followed by Raman with 17 percent, and Pratt with 14 percent of support.