47th Assembly District goes to Democrat Karen Bass

By Natalya Berenshteyn

bruin contributor

[email protected]

The constituents of the 47th District, which includes UCLA,
elected Democrat Karen Bass as their representative to the state
Assembly in Tuesday’s election.

Bass received 78 percent of the vote while Republican nominee
Dale Everett received 19 percent and Libertarian nominee Peter De
Baets received 3 percent.

The 47th District was one of the many noncompetitive races for
the state Legislature, with Bass having overwhelming pre-election
support.

Thad Kousser, an assistant professor of political science at UC
San Diego, said that despite the lack of competition, the
importance of state Legislature races should not be underestimated
because decisions about K-12 education and the very large UC budget
are made at the state level.

In her first campaign for a political office, Bass defeated
Everett and De Baets in a race for the seat formerly held by
Democratic Assemblyman Herb Wesson. Wesson was unable to run for
reelection due to term limits.

“I’ve been an activist all my life,” Bass
said.

In 1990, Bass founded Community Coalition, an organization aimed
at improving the quality of life in South Los Angeles.

Bass said higher education, access to health care and jobs are
her top priorities.

She said she is particularly concerned with restoration of
budget cutbacks in education and protecting the community college
system.

Lillian Taiz, the vice president of the California Faculty
Association, one of the organizations that endorsed Bass during the
race, said she believes Bass will be one of the advocates for
higher education as the California Legislature moves toward
discussing the state budget.

Bass said she hopes to establish a collaboration between her
office and the UCLA community, eventually providing students with
internship opportunities and a chance to get involved in the
democratic process.

Bass also said there is a need for jobs in the 47th District,
adding that she hopes to bridge the gap between the job-rich and
job-poor parts of the district.