Karen Bass

CA State Assembly

Date	Party	Office	Votes	Result
11-02-2004	Democratic	AD-47	118495	Win
11-07-2006	Democratic	AD-47	84674	Win
11-04-2008	Democratic	AD-47	134003	Win
11-02-2010	Democratic	CD-33	131990	Win
11-06-2012	Democratic	CD-37	207039	Win
11-04-2014	Democratic	CD-37	96787	Win
11-08-2016	Democratic	CD-37	192490	Win
11-06-2018	Democratic	CD-37	210555	Win
11-03-2020	Democratic	CD-37	254916	Win

Candidate Biography:

Born: October 3, 1953 in Los Angeles, CA
Married: Jess Lechuga (div.)
Child: Emilia Wright (d. 2006)*
University: University of Southern California (Public Administration, 199?; MSW, 2015)

Previous: Member, Los Angeles City Council Ad Hoc Committee on Gangs, Youth and Violence
1990-2003: Founder and Executive Director, Community Coalition
1993: Woman of the Year (48th Assembly District) [selected by Marguerite Archie-Hudson]
2006-2008: Majority Leader, California State Assembly
2008-2010: Speaker, California State Assembly
2016: Delegate, Democratic National Convention
2022: Resigned from the United States House of Representatives on December 9.
2022-Present: Mayor, City of Los Angeles

• AWARD: Winner (with Darrell Steinberg, Dave Cogdill, and Mike Villines) of the Profile in Courage Award from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation (2010).  
• In February 2007, Karen Bass announced the creation of the Emilia Lechuga-Bass Civil Rights Internship.
• Bass was the first female African American to lead a legislative house in the US.
• NATURAL DISASTER (WILDFIRE): The most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles history and possibly the most expensive wildfire in U.S history (the Palisades Fire in January 2025) occured in Los Angeles County while Bass was Mayor.
• 2025 ICE CONFLICT: The ongoing series of protests and riots relating to increased immigration enforcement by federal authorities (June 6-?, 2025) occured in Los Angeles County while Bass was Mayor. On June 6th, protests were held in response to an increase in immigration enforcement by federal agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). On June 7th, President Trump federalized 2000 members of the California National Guard and issued a presidential memoranda titled "Department of Defense Security for the Protection of Department of Homeland Security Functions" which federalized "members and units of the National Guard... to temporarily protect ICE and other United States Government personnel who are performing Federal functions, including the enforcement of Federal law, and to protect Federal property, at locations where protests against these functions are occurring or are likely to occur based on current threat assessments and planned operations. [Source] On June 9th, 700 Marines were deployed to Los Angeles by the Department of Defense to "work together with the National Guard to protect federal personnel and property." On June 10th, another 2000 California National Guard.

Source: California Legislature Handbook (2005-06)
Source: "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-Present" (U.S. Library of Congress) [http://bioguide.congress.gov/]