Karen Bass, Mayor of Burning Los Angeles, Ran on Abortion in 2022

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ran on abortion in her 2022 campaign — even though the issue has nothing to do with city governance — because it was a way to motivate Democrats and distinguish herself from her rival, Rick Caruso.

Caruso, a former Republican who became an independent and then a Democrat, came under criticism from Bass and the media for having once donated to pro-life causes. The Caruso family has also donated to Catholic institutions.

Bass seized on that point to claim that she was the only real Democrat in the race, and that Los Angeles voters wanted to be governed by a true Democrat, not someone who had more conservative beliefs and a less reliably party identity.

In her closing remarks in the final debate, Bass stressed that she was the only “pro-choice Democrat” in the race.

Bass was in Ghana on a diplomatic trip when the fire broke out, as part of a four-member presidential delegation from the Biden administration attending the inauguration of John Dramani Mahama as Ghana’s new president.

She cut nearly $18 million from the city’s fire budget from the current fiscal year, and had initially proposed even deeper cuts.

Democrats have prioritized abortion as a campaign issue, even in local races, ever since the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade precedent in 2022 — even though there is no municipal authority over it.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.