Speaker Karen Bass to Run For Congress

Los Angeles - Assembly Speaker Karen Bass made it official today, announcing she will run for the congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Diane Watson, D-Los Angeles.

The 56-year-old Bass, also a Los Angeles Democrat, has been in the Assembly since 2004. She is the first black woman and first Democratic woman to serve as Assembly Speaker.

Bass will be a strong favorite in the heavily Democratic 33rd Congressional District, which includes Culver City, Baldwin Hills, Ladera Heights, Windsor Hills, Hancock Park, Hollywood, the Wilshire corridor and Koreatown.

She already has the backing of Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who called Bass "one of the finest leaders anywhere in California."

"Karen's abundant strengths as a public servant have always been her willingness and desire to listen carefully to the people she serves, couples with her ability to act swiftly, forcefully and sensitively to meet the needs (of) her diverse constituents," Ridley-Thomas said. "Speaker Bass has my full support as she seeks to succeed Congresswoman Diane Watson in the House of Representatives to serve the needs of the people of the 33rd Congressional District."

Watson, 76, announced last week that she will not seek re-election, saying she wants to spend more time with her mother, who recently turned 100 and broke her hip. Watson has held the seat since 2001.

Saying she wants to spend more time with her family, Rep. Diane Watson, D-Los Angeles, announced today that she will not seek re-election to the congressional seat she has held since 2001.

"I appreciate the trust ... that you have placed in me," Watson said at her district office, surrounded by supporters, including county Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and the Rev. Cecil "Chip" Murray.

The 76-year-old lawmaker said she wants to spend more "quality time" with her mother, who recently marked her 100th birthday and broke her hip.

She did not make an endorsement for her successor in the heavily Democratic 33rd District, which

Watson has been in public service for more than 30 years. In 1975, she became the first black woman elected to the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education. She was elected to the state Senate in 1978, and she served as chair of the Health and Human Services Committee for 17 years.

President Bill Clinton appointed Watson as U.S. ambassador to Micronesia, a post she held until she returned to California in 2001 to run for Congress. She won the special election, which was held after the death of Rep. Julian Dixon.

Watson was re-elected to a full term in November 2002 and was easily re-elected three more times. Her term ends in December.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, who is expected to seek Watson's seat, said she would have no comment on her plans until after meeting with the retiring congresswoman this weekend.

She issued a statement praising Watson, who she said had been her mentor for years.

"She was the one who encouraged me to run for the Assembly and she has been a tremendous resource for me and other elected officials," Bass said.

"Congresswoman Watson's leadership on behalf of the people of her district, the State of California and the entire nation continues to inspire the rest of us in public service," she said.

Ridley-Thomas said Watson's departure "signals the latest chapter in the generational change in South Los Angeles' leadership that has been under way for some time now."

"No one is more deserving of the respite in service retirement signals, although I know she will always be involved in activities that serve and help empower her community," he said.