LA Mayoral Race: Latino democrats show support for Karen Bass

LOS ANGELES - Rep. Karen Bass secured several more endorsements Wednesday in her run for Los Angeles mayor.

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California; Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez; Rep. Tony Cárdenas, D-Panorama City; and Assemblywoman Luz Rivas, D-Arleta; announced Wednesday they were backing Bass, D-Los Angeles, in her race against billionaire businessman Rick Caruso.

Padilla is the first Latino U.S. senator to represent California. Martinez, Cárdenas and Rivas are all Latinos serving the San Fernando Valley.

Martinez pointed out similarities between the paths that she and Bass took in politics as women of color.

"There were no women who looked like us, and no women whose career path mirrored what we wanted to do," Martinez said. "And there were no women of color when we were growing up to show us an easy ride of how to get here when we were entering the career of politics."

Last week, Bass secured endorsements from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. She has also picked up endorsements from former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and several congressional colleagues that include House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and local Reps. Linda Sanchez, Jimmy Gomez, Lou Correa, Judy Chu, Ted Lieu, Mike Levin, Adam Schiff, Brad Sherman, Mark Takano, Raul Ruiz and Lucille Roybal- Allard. She also has broad labor support from local unions, along with the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.

Caruso has been backed by former Mayor Richard Riordan, business groups including the Los Angeles County Business Federation, the Los Angeles Police Protective League and celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Gwyneth Paltrow, Elon Musk, Snoop Dogg, Wolfgang Puck, music mogul Clarence Avant and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos.

Bass finished first in the June primary race for mayor and will square off in November against Caruso.