Bass widens her lead over Caruso in L.A. mayor’s race
LOS ANGELES – Bass Bly made history last week at the first Democratic debate when she became the first black woman to win a major party’s nomination for California mayor.
But in an unexpected twist, she is now leading state Sen. Gloria Alioto-Davies, D-Santa Barbara, a longtime Democrat and favorite of the party establishment, for the position herself.
While Bly is the frontrunner, it’s Alioto-Davies who is still looking to prove why she should be the next mayor.
The election is a rematch over housing. In the primary, Bly beat Councilman Tom Ammiano in a field that featured a former state senator, who also was running for mayor. Now she is leading with the same margin she beat Ammiano on March 13.
This is a far cry from the primary, when Bly trailed Ammiano by 7 percentage points.
In her fourth term as mayor, Bass Bly is running for a second term but she is starting from a much lower base. She is trying to catch up to Councilman Bill Hogan, who entered the race as she did to win a seat on the council. And she trails Councilman Robert Garcia, who entered the race on an “all-in” strategy, after serving six years as an ex-city attorney before running for council.
Bly believes she can catch Hogan in the same way she finished ahead of Ammiano. “I think Hogan is playing up this idea that we have to change this system,” she said. “Well, I don’t want to change that system in the City of Los Angeles.”
Garcia has been a top contender for months but he hasn’t been able to generate any momentum in the race.
“I think people are tired of the status quo and the way things are going,” he said. “I hope I can raise the level of discourse here.”
This race has been compared to the 1968 race between Mayor Richard J. Riordan and former City Council member Robert J. White, but this year, even White is showing
