The left-wing revolt Karen Bass never saw coming |
The filing deadline for Los Angeles mayor closed at noon last Saturday.
And this race looks nothing like the cakewalk Karen Bass expected.
Billionaire developer Rick Caruso passed on a rematch. LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath decided not to jump in. Former LA Times publisher Austin Beutner entered — then withdrew after the tragic death of his daughter.
A head-to-head contest against a Republican — even a celebrity outsider like former reality TV star Spencer Pratt — could become a referendum on Donald Trump in deep-blue LA. That’s a race Bass almost certainly would welcome.
Instead, she also drew a serious challenger from her left, in City Council member Nithya Raman.
Who even thought that was possible?
Raman’s entry turns the primary into a progressive purity contest. That’s the nightmare scenario for a Democratic incumbent — not a fight with the right, but a revolt from the left.
And it’s happening for a reason. Bass isn’t being challenged from the left because she’s too moderate. She’s being challenged because the city she runs isn’t working.
And let’s be clear: Bass isn’t exactly a centrist.
A close ally of Nancy Pelosi during her years in Congress, she built a reputation as one of the House’s more reliably liberal members. She........