U.S. Rep. Karen Bass said Monday that she is running for mayor of Los Angeles.<\/b>
\nU.S. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) launched her campaign for Los Angeles mayor on Monday, telling Angelenos she\u2019s in the race with her \u201cwhole heart\u201d and ready to tackle the city\u2019s homelessness epidemic. \u201cOur city is facing a public health, safety and economic crisis in homelessness that has evolved into a humanitarian emergency,\u201d Bass said in a statement. \u201cI\u2019ve spent my entire life bringing groups of people together in coalitions to solve complex problems and produce concrete change \u2014 especially in times of crisis.\u201d She added: \u201cWith my whole heart, I\u2019m ready. Let\u2019s do this \u2014 together. I\u2019m running for mayor.\u201d Bass, who served as state Assembly speaker before being elected to Congress, co-founded Community Coalition, a South L.A. nonprofit focused on social and economic issues. She joins a field that includes City Atty. Mike Feuer, City Councilmen Kevin de Le\u00f3n and Joe Buscaino, business leader Jessica Lall and real estate broker Mel Wilson. Two others, real estate developer Rick Caruso and former L.A. Unified Supt. Austin Beutner, have been exploring a mayoral bid. Bass\u2019 spokesman, Zach Seidl, said Monday that she wasn\u2019t available for an interview. She signaled on her election website that homelessness would be a top campaign issue. Bass wrote that solving this crisis means \u201caddressing the root causes of homelessness: lack of affordable housing, health care, job training, mental health services, and drug and alcohol counseling.\u201d Unless she resigns from Congress, Bass,67, will need to divide her time between the campaign and her duties in Washington. She represents a district that includes all or parts of South Los Angeles, Mid-City, Culver City and Palms. One of the last members of Congress to launch a bid for Los Angeles mayor was then-Rep. Xavier Becerra. He fared poorly in the 2001 primary, receiving 6% of the vote. Bass\u2019 entrance into the race was expected. In recent months, she told reporters that she was seriously considering a bid, while her supporters in Los Angeles \u2014 a diverse group that includes activists, City Hall politicians, and Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg \u2014 also talked up Bass for mayor.<\/p>\n