Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass kicked off her reelection bid on Monday, saying she is searching for a second four-year time period whereas persevering with to “ship the change that Angelenos deserve.”
In a fundraising e mail to supporters, Bass stated her administration, which is lower than 19 months outdated, has made main strides on homelessness, public security, the supply of metropolis companies and different points.
“I’m working for a second time period as a result of we can’t afford to cease our momentum,” stated Bass, who took workplace in December 2022.
Bass filed paperwork on Monday to type a fundraising committee for the June 2026 mayoral election. If she fails to acquire 50% of the vote within the major, she would face an opponent in a runoff that November.
The mayor’s pitch for donations went out three days after officers reported that the variety of “unsheltered” homeless — these dwelling in tents, autos and makeshift constructions — went down by 10.4% citywide in contrast with the prior yr. Many had been moved into accommodations, motels and different types of interim housing as a part of the mayor’s Inside Protected initiative.
“Along with locked arms, we introduced down road homelessness for the primary time in years — bringing hundreds extra individuals inside final yr than the yr earlier than,” she stated in her e mail.
Homelessness total went down 2.2% — throughout the margin of error for this yr’s homelessness depend, which was performed in January.
In her e mail, Bass additionally touted her work on Government Directive 1, which is fast-tracking the approval of reasonably priced housing, in addition to a discount in homicides and her efforts to work collaboratively with metropolis, state and federal businesses.
The fundraising interval for the 2026 major election started on June 2 for citywide workplaces — mayor, metropolis lawyer and metropolis controller. Candidates for Metropolis Council within the 2026 election can’t start elevating cash for his or her campaigns till December.
Within the final election, Bass was massively outspent by her opponent, billionaire actual property developer Rick Caruso, who put in additional than $108 million — most of it his personal cash. That was over 10 instances the quantity spent by the Bass marketing campaign, based on figures posted by town’s Ethics Fee.
A Caruso consultant had no remark when contacted by The Instances in regards to the 2026 election. Final fall, Caruso informed Politico he had not dominated out one other run for public workplace.
