Karen Bass

Karen Ruth Bass (; born October 3, 1953) is an American politician who has served as the 43rd mayor of Los Angeles since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, Bass previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2022 and in the California State Assembly from 2004 to 2010, serving as speaker during her final Assembly term.

After attending San Diego State University and California State University, Dominguez Hills, Bass worked as a physician assistant and community organizer, before being elected to represent California's 47th State Assembly district in 2004. In 2008, she was elected to serve as the 67th speaker of the California State Assembly, becoming the first African-American woman in United States history to serve as a speaker of a state legislative body.

Bass was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. She represented California's 33rd congressional district during her first term; redistribution of districts moved her to 37th district in 2012. She chaired the Congressional Black Caucus during the 116th Congress. After winning the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election, Bass became the first woman to serve as mayor of Los Angeles.

Early life and education

Bass was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Wilhelmina (née Duckett) and DeWitt Talmadge Bass. Her father was a postman and her mother was a homemaker. She was raised in the Venice and Fairfax neighborhoods of Los Angeles and graduated from Alexander Hamilton High School in 1971.

Witnessing the civil rights movement on television with her father as a child sparked her interest in community activism. While in middle school, Bass began volunteering for Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign. In the mid-1970s she was an organizer for the Venceremos Brigade, a pro-Cuban Revolution group that organized trips by Americans to Cuba. She visited Cuba eight times in the 1970s.

Bass studied philosophy at San Diego State University from 1971 to 1973 and graduated from the physician assistant program at the USC Keck School of Medicine in 1982. She then earned a Bachelor of Science with a major in health sciences from California State University, Dominguez Hills, in 1990.

In the 1980s, she worked as an emergency medicine physician assistant and a clinical instructor at the physician assistant program at the USC Keck School of Medicine. In the late 1980s, Bass and other local community organizers founded Community Coalition, a South Los Angeles grassroots organization.

While serving as a member of the United States House of Representatives from California, Bass received a Master of Social Work from the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work in 2015.

California State Assembly

In 2004, Bass was elected to represent California's 47th Assembly district. At her inauguration, she became the only African-American woman serving in the state legislature. She was reelected in 2006 and 2008 before her term limit expired. Bass served the cities and communities of Culver City, West Los Angeles, Westwood, Cheviot Hills, Leimert Park, Baldwin Hills, View Park-Windsor Hills, Ladera Heights, the Crenshaw District, Little Ethiopia and portions of Koreatown and South Los Angeles.

Speaker Fabian Núñez appointed Bass California State Assembly majority whip for the 2005–06 legislative session and majority floor leader for the 2007–08 legislative session. During her term as majority whip, Bass was vice chair of the Legislative Black Caucus. As vice chair, she commissioned the first ever "State of Black California" report.

Speakership

Núñez termed out of the Assembly at the end of the 2007–08 session, leaving Bass as the next-highest-ranking Democrat in the Assembly. After consolidating the support of a majority of legislators, including some who had previously been planning to run for the speakership themselves, Bass was elected speaker on February 28, 2008, and sworn in on May 13, 2008.

As speaker, Bass promoted numerous laws to improve the state's child welfare system. During her first year, she ushered through expansion of Healthy Families Insurance Coverage to prevent children from going without health insurance and worked to eliminate bureaucratic impediments to the certification of small businesses. She also secured more than $2.3 million to help revitalize the historic Vision Theater in Los Angeles and more than $600 million for Los Angeles Unified School District. Bass worked with the governor and initiated the California Commission on the 21st-Century Economy to reform California's tax code. She also fought to repeal the California Citizens Redistricting Commission.

California budget crisis (2008–2010)

Bass became speaker during a period of severe economic turmoil. Negotiations over a spending plan to address a multi-billion dollar budget shortfall began the day Bass was sworn in. She was part of the negotiations that resulted in a comprehensive deal to close most of a $42 billion shortfall.

In June 2009, Bass drew criticism from conservative commentators for statements she made during an interview with Los Angeles Times reporter Patt Morrison in response to a question about how conservative talk radio affected the Assembly's efforts to pass a state budget. Referencing the condemnation from conservative talk radio hosts that three Republicans experienced after they voted for a Democrat-sponsored plan to create revenue by raising taxes, Bass described the pressures Republican lawmakers face:

The Republicans were essentially threatened and terrorized against voting for revenue. Now [some] are facing recalls. They operate under a terrorist threat: "You vote for revenue and your career is over." I don't know why we allow that kind of terrorism to exist. I guess it's about free speech, but it's extremely unfair.

Bass, Dave Cogdill, Darrell Steinberg, and Michael Villines received the 2010 Profile in Courage Award for their leadership in the budget negotiations and their efforts to address the severe financial crisis.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2010

In 2010, Representative Diane Watson retired from Congress and encouraged Bass to run for her seat. Bass was ineligible to run for reelection to the State Assembly in 2010 due to California's term limits, so on February 18, 2010, Bass confirmed her candidacy to represent California's 33rd congressional district.

Bass raised $932,281.19 and spent $768,918.65. Her 2010 campaign contributions came from diverse groups, with none donating more than 15% of her total campaign funds. The five major donors to her campaign were labor unions, with $101,950; financial institutions, with $90,350; health professionals, with $87,900; the entertainment industry, with $52,400; and lawyers and law firms, with $48,650.

Bass won the election with over 86% of the vote on November 2, 2010.

2012

In redistricting following the 2010 census, the district was renumbered from 33rd to 37th. In 2012 she had no primary opponent and won the general election with 86% of the vote. She raised $692,988.53 and spent $803,966.15, leaving $52,384.92 on hand and a debt of $3,297.59.

Bass was involved in President Barack Obama's reelection campaign. She played a leadership role in the California African Americans for Obama organization and served on Obama's national African American Leadership Council. Bass had also served as a co-chair of African Americans for Obama in California during the 2008 presidential campaign.

2014

Bass was reelected to a third term with 84.3% of the vote.

2016

Bass was reelected to a fourth term with 81.1% of the vote. She endorsed Hillary Clinton for president in 2015. On August 3, 2016, Bass launched a petition to have then-candidate Donald Trump psychologically evaluated, suggesting that he exhibited symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). The petition was signed by 37,218 supporters. She did not attend President Trump's inauguration after conducting a poll on Twitter.

2018

Fueled by Trump's election and to channel Angelenos' political frustrations, Bass created the Sea Change Leadership PAC to activate, educate, and mobilize voters. She won her primary with 89.18% of the vote and was reelected to a fifth term with 88.2% of the vote.

After the 2018 elections, Democrats regained the majority in the House of Representatives. Representative Seth Moulton and others who felt the current leadership was "too old" gathered signatures to replace Nancy Pelosi as the Democrats' leader. Bass was their first choice for leader, but she rejected the offer, supporting Pelosi for speaker. On November 28, 2018, Pelosi won the speakership on a 203-to-32 vote.

2020

Bass won her primary with 88.1% of the vote and was reelected to a sixth term with 85.9% of the vote.