The recall effort directed toward Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass fizzled out on Monday, when a recall measure needed to qualify for the ballot.
Calls for Bass’s recall mounted following her lackluster response to the Los Angeles wildfires in January. The Democratic mayor faced criticism partly for her office’s budget cuts to the Los Angeles Fire Department and her initial defense of former Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, whom Bass later dismissed over her improper handling of the fires.
The recall effort launched in early March with backing from Silicon Valley philanthropist Nicole Shanahan, the former running mate of independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. However, the movement failed to gain traction, even though its petition garnered over 200,000 signatures.
The problem was that the recall committee never filed for approval to start collecting signatures and thus failed to qualify. Monday marked the qualification deadline for the recall ballot measure.
The recall committee’s failure to qualify for the ballot “tells us that people didn’t have the appetite for a recall, and they wanted the problems in the city to get fixed, whether it had to do with the fire, homelessness, or crime,” Bass campaign strategist Doug Herman told Politico’s Playbook.
The Recall Karen Bass group announced the end of its campaign in June, saying a recall “is no longer our vehicle for change.” However, it revealed its new focus is next year’s mayoral election.
“We are now transitioning to focus on holding LA’s elected officials — especially Mayor Bass — accountable at the ballot box in 2026,” the group wrote in a June 10 statement. “With the mayoral primary on June 2, 2026, and a potential runoff in November, our fight is entering a new phase, with more flexibility and a shift in strategic focus.”
Bass, who is up for reelection next year, formed an anti-recall committee to raise money for her 2026 campaign. More than $750,000 was raised and used for consulting, polling, and digital lists, according to Politico.
The fundraising stream did not go into her general reelection account, which limits each donation to $1,800. By setting up a separate account, her campaign could receive unlimited donations.
Two of the largest donations amounted to $250,000 from the Bass-affiliated Sea Change PAC and $200,000 from former California State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez’s campaign. Other donations made by individual donors reached as high as $25,000.
“After the fires and what had happened, anything was possible, and we had to mobilize, and that’s what the mayor did,” Herman told the Los Angeles Times. “But the people of the city didn’t want to have a recall in the midst of what they thought were more serious problems.”
Bass is currently facing no formidable challenger, but former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso could join the race to challenge the incumbent again. However, there’s speculation that Caruso, a billionaire developer, may instead run for governor of California, especially after former Vice President Kamala Harris announced she would not enter the gubernatorial race in 2026.
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Notably, Caruso said the Shanahan-led effort to recall Bass was “not a good idea” back in March, not long after the recall movement started.
“This is a time when Los Angeles needs unity, not costly and expensive political distractions,” Caruso said at the time. “We must rebuild our communities, get people back into their homes, and open businesses that have been closed or lost. That must be our total focus. There is a time and place for politics, but it is not now.”