LOS ANGELES, CA — Gov. Gavin Newsom Thursday endorsed incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in her bid for reelection, citing their partnership in reducing homelessness, enacting policies to lower crime and bringing back film production to the city.
Newsom's endorsement comes five days before Tuesday's primary election, and a tight race between the top three candidates: Bass, City Councilwoman Nithya Raman and former TV reality star Spencer Pratt.
"The work Karen Bass is doing in Los Angeles is making our entire state stronger, with an 18% decline in homelessness while it grew nationally, historic drops in violent crime, boosting film production in L.A. and protecting our communities against ICE. She has my full support for re- election," Newsom said in a statement.
Bass thanked the governor for his support.
"Governor Newsom has been a partner for Los Angeles at every turn — from delivering state resources that has driven down homelessness two years in a row, to standing shoulder-to-shoulder with us against Donald Trump's lawless attacks on our city, to cutting red tape so we can build more faster," Bass said in a statement.
In a new poll released Thursday — conducted by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, and co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times — found Bass held "what pollsters called a statistically insignificant lead ahead of the election," according to the Times.
Bass had 26% support from likely voters with Raman receiving 25% support from likely voters, followed by Pratt, who had 22% support from likely voters.
The figures come from a survey of 1,913 registered voters, of which 1,351 were considered likely voters. It was conducted between May 19 and May 24. The poll has a margin of error of about 3%, according to the newspaper.
Meanwhile, housing advocate Rae Chen Huang polled with 9% support from likely voters surveyed, and tech entrepreneur Adam Miller had 5% support from likely voters surveyed. Huang and Miller are among the top five mayoral candidates, according to past polls.
A March poll showed Bass had support with 25% of likely voters, with Raman at 17% and Pratt with 14% support of likely voters.
There a 14 candidates running for Los Angeles mayor.
If no candidate receives 50% of votes in the primary election, the top two candidates will face off in a run-off in November.
City News Service
Sign up for free local newsletters and alerts for the
Los Angeles, CA Patch
Patch.com is the nationwide leader in hyperlocal news.
Visit Patch.com to find your town today.