Overview
- Gov. Gavin Newsom formally backed Mayor Karen Bass for reelection in a statement released Thursday, saying she has his “full support for reelection.”
- A UC Berkeley IGS poll released the same day found Bass at 26 percent, Nithya Raman at 25 percent and Spencer Pratt at 22 percent, with the poll’s director calling Bass’s lead statistically insignificant.
- In his statement Newsom credited Bass with an 18 percent decline in homelessness, historic drops in violent crime, growth in film production and protections against ICE, language that the governor used to justify his endorsement.
- Newsom’s backing joins earlier high-profile support from Kamala Harris, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla and follows past disputes over state aid between the governor and the mayor that both sides have downplayed.
- The endorsement could help Bass by boosting donors, volunteers and state coordination in the final days before the primary and may influence whether the race avoids a runoff if no candidate secures a decisive result.