Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) said he “broadly” supports Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for reelection despite their past disagreements over certain issues, including housing and homelessness.
“I’ve known her for years,” he said in a new interview released by Puck News on Tuesday. “We have a great collaborative relationship. She has a remarkable career. She’s got a remarkable capacity to do good things. And so I believe in her.”
As mayor, Bass opposed the governor’s 2024 executive order to dismantle homeless encampments in Los Angeles and a housing bill he signed last year. The law, which takes effect on July 1, is designed to expedite construction for high-rise affordable homes near mass transit.
Newsom acknowledged these differences of opinion between himself and Bass while noting they will continue to collaborate.
“We can get into some of the merits to merits of where she was on some housing bills and some homeless issues, and we’ll continue to kick the tires on a daily, not just weekly, basis” regarding the Los Angeles fire recovery efforts, he said.
“Those are areas where we’ll work those things out, but I broadly do” support Bass, he added.
Both Democrats have faced public criticism over their handling of the fallout from the January 2025 wildfires that destroyed large parts of the Pacific Palisades and nearby areas.
Bass was blamed for her absence from the city when the wildfires broke out and for cutting the fire department’s budget months earlier, while Newsom was blasted over a policy that diverted water from a state-protected estuary filled with a fish called the delta smelt.
President Donald Trump and others pointed to the environmental policy as the reason for water shortages that hindered firefighters’ response. However, there is no evidence to suggest that the water-diversion policy caused or led to the wildfires.
In a November 2025 memo, California officials determined the southern part of the state did not have a lack of water when the fires started. In fact, according to a study published by the University of California, Los Angeles, the following month, the problem appeared to be with fire hydrants in the Pacific Palisades that often fail.
MEMOIRS FROM POTENTIAL PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES SHED LIGHT ON THEIR 2028 STRATEGIES
Bass is seeking a second term in her mayoral run against two formidable opponents: conservative candidate Spencer Pratt and democratic socialist Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman.
Meanwhile, Newsom is focused on finishing his second term as governor this year while he entertains a possible 2028 presidential campaign. He is speculated to run now that he is traveling across the nation to promote his new book, Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery, a common strategy used by presidential hopefuls.