All but one of Los Angeles supervisors endorse Karen Bass for re-election

Four Los Angeles County Supervisors officially endorsed LA Mayor Karen Bass for re-election, Bass’ campaign announced Friday.

Supervisors Hilda Solis, Holly Mitchell, Janice Hahn and Kathryn Barger called Bass a trailblazer and the right leader as the LA County Board looks to continue to work closely with the city of LA. The alliances between the four supervisors and Bass go way back as they all worked with the former congresswoman and former community organizer in the past.

One obvious person who didn’t express support for Bass is Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who joined the board in 2022 after serving as West Hollywood mayor. She also had been endorsed by Eric Garcetti, Bass’ predecessor.

Horvath mulled over whether to enter the mayoral race and run against Bass until the very last minute ahead of the deadline to file for candidacy in February.

Horvath eventually opted out of the race, saying she decided after “much prayer and many honest conversations” with her family, friends and political allies.

The progressive supervisor did not announced who she will support. But if she had to, the obvious choice for her would be LA City Councilwoman Nithya Raman, who, in what could be viewed as an upheaval within LA City Hall, announced her candidacy on the day of the filing deadline.

Raman said she decided to run because there’s “a wall of reluctance” within City Hall to aggressively take care of urgent issues.

 Bass admitted she didn’t expect a challenge from Raman.

“Well, first of all, it was a surprise,” Bass told reporters last month. “We have been great allies, especially on the issue of homelessness. And I will tell you that I will look forward to working with Nithya Raman in my second term.”

While Bass has picked up endorsements from other prominent officials, including Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, the re-election may not be a shoo-in: A recent Emerson College/Inside California Politics poll showed 24% of Los Angeles voters approved Bass’ performance while 47% disapproved.

The same poll also showed the majority of LA voters (50.9%) is still undecided on who to pick as the next mayor.

Among those who have decided, nearly 20% said they support Bass while over 10% support Spence Pratt, a conservative reality TV personality. LA City Councilmember Nithya Raman was at third place with just over 9% of support.

Two other prominent figures decided against entering the race. 

Former Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner withdrew from consideration after the sudden death of his 22-year-old daughter, Emily, in January. Beutner said the loss required him to focus on his family rather than the demands of a mayoral campaign.

Billionaire developer Rick Caruso, who lost to Bass in the 2022 mayoral election, also ruled out another run last month after considering the possibility earlier in the year.

City News Service contributed to this report.