For more than 30 years Karen Bass has been a community leader, a coalition builder and a true ally for the Latino community.

In 1990, she convened community leaders in South Los Angeles to talk about the health crisis in the community. At the time Bass was an emergency room physician’s assistant.

From the beginning, she worked as a community organizer to found the Community Coalition, also known as CoCo, and worked hand in hand with Latino community leaders.

From her early days with CoCo to her work as a member of Congress since 2011, Bass has put the interests of the community first.

She introduced the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act – the most transformative piece of policing legislation to ever pass in a chamber of Congress.

In 2021, Bass voted to pass the American Dream and Promise Act, and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, two landmark pieces of legislation to modernize and reform the immigration system and secure permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

She has served on the Judiciary Committee since 2012. She helped pass sweeping criminal justice reforms including the First Step Act to reform the prison system to improve the treatment of women in prisons.

She helped pass the Equality Act of 2020, which would provide consistent and explicit anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people.

Before she was elected Congress, Bass served in the California State Assembly from 2004 to 2010. She served as speaker the last two years of her time in the assembly.

Bass worked on reforming California’s child welfare system and ensuring children had health insurance. As Assembly speaker, she received a 2010 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for negotiating a bipartisan budget compromise. 

Bass has been endorsed by Latino leaders including U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, U.S. Reps. Tony Cárdenas, Jimmy Gomez,  Raul Ruiz and Lucille Roybal- Allard. The co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America, Dolores Huerta, also has endorsed Bass.

“I’ve known Karen and her work for decades. When she’s faced with a challenge or crisis, she does what good organizers always do when they work in service to others — they bring people together, find common ground by listening to the people, and then develop solutions which make the most sense,” Huerta said in a statement.

“She’s brought together Blacks and Latinos and Asians and whites; the legacies of her coalitions have had real impacts on health care, jobs and human rights in Los Angeles and beyond. She will do the same as mayor. She has been able to get results throughout her life by being a steady, patient leader who cultivates mutual respect through honesty and strength. I’m proud to support her in this fight,” Huerta added.

Bass also has been endorsed by President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama.

CALÓ NEWS sent questionnaires to the two candidates in the mayoral runoff. Rick Caruso replied with a general statement to Latino voters but Bass took the time to answer our questions.

Bass addressed issues that Latinos care about, the rise in homelessness, the lack of affordable housing, immigration, abortion rights and more. She also committed to represent our community as mayor.

“If elected mayor, I am committed to appointing an Administration that reflects the  diversity of Los Angeles. That includes the appointment of Latino leaders in staff  capacities in the Mayor’s Office and as General Managers, Commissioners, Trustees  and Appointees of Governing Bodies, and any other position that is important in  governance,” Bass replied to CALÓ NEWS. 

Bass won first place for mayor in the primary but this is going to be a close race between her and businessman Caruso.

Billionaire Caruso has invested countless millions in businesses and malls in Los Angeles and more than $80 million for his own election. But the former Republican hasn’t demonstrated a deep commitment to the diverse communities of Los Angeles.

CALÓ NEWS endorses Karen Bass to be the next mayor of Los Angeles. We need a leader who has a track record of working with and for our community.