Hollywood figures are backing Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass as early voting began over the weekend, lending star power to her campaign for re-election.
The endorsements arrive as the mayoral contest between Bass and City Council member Nithya Raman has become a multimillion-dollar battle. Labor unions, wealthy donors and police groups are spending heavily on advertising both supporting and opposing the candidates.
Actor and producer Samuel L. Jackson targeted Raman’s record on homelessness, the issue most frequently cited by voters, in a video released Sunday.
“Battling the nationwide homeless epidemic is the hardest job in the American government. Karen Bass walked toward it in one day. Her opponent chaired the city council’s housing and homelessness committee and canceled meetings on it,” Jackson said.
“It’s easy to run a pilot in one district and call it a model. Try doing it in 15 districts with Washington cutting your funding, while the whole country watches. That’s the job Karen Bass has done… Vote, motherf*****!” Jackson added in his latest video supporting Bass.
Activist and actress Jane Fonda also appeared with Bass in a campaign video released last week, describing the mayor as “a woman of the people.”
“This is not a career for her. It’s a calling. She was an activist and an organizer long before she ran for office… She’s been there in the State Assembly. She’s been there in Congress. She knows how to govern. We have to keep her as the Mayor of Los Angeles,” Fonda said.
Actor Anthony Anderson made his case for Bass in a Saturday video, highlighting her work on behalf of California’s entertainment industry.
“She created the California Film and Television Tax Credit. Gov. Newsom credits Mayor Bass with boosting film production here in California. I’ll take the person who built the bridge over the person that’s promising one,” Anderson said.
Cedric the Entertainer said he has known Bass for years, beginning with her time in the California Legislature and continuing through her service in the House of Representatives. “She is the right person for the job,” he said in a campaign video.
Although Bass has attracted public support from Hollywood, most outside campaign spending has benefited Raman.
The leading spender so far is Estamos Con Nithya, a committee financed primarily by organized labor and a wealthy hedge fund manager. By Thursday, the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters had contributed more than $10 million to the group.
Aaron Sosnick, a hedge fund manager with a Reno address who has advocated expanding Los Angeles’ bike-lane network, supplied $6 million of that total.
Recent campaign finance filings show Bass has raised approximately $3.4 million overall, compared with Raman’s $3 million. Raman nevertheless has nearly $1.4 million in cash available, almost twice Bass’s remaining reserves.
For the monthly reporting period ending Oct. 17, Bass received $827,000 in contributions and public matching funds. Raman raised $485,000 during the same period.
The contest comes amid broad voter dissatisfaction with Los Angeles, according to a California Post-McLaughlin & Associates survey. Some 66.2% of respondents said the city was moving in the wrong direction, while 16.4% said it was headed in the right direction.
Homelessness ranked as voters’ top concern at 47.3%, followed by the cost of living at 41.7% and housing affordability at 35.4%.
Bass’s job performance drew disapproval from 71.7% of respondents, compared with 25.5% who approved. Among registered Democrats, the disapproval rate was 65.5%.
Voters may return their ballots before Election Day on Nov. 3.
