Vice President Kamala Harris will swear in Los Angeles Mayor-elect Karen Bass during her inauguration ceremony on Sunday, Dec. 11 – a moment that will be filled with historical significance.
Bass, a six-term congresswoman, is the first woman and only the second Black person to be elected mayor of L.A. in the city’s 241-year history. Similarly, Harris is the first woman, and first woman of color, to serve as vice president of the United States.
Sunday’s event, announced by the Office of the Mayor-elect, won’t be the first time that Harris, a California native who owns a home in L.A., has appeared alongside Bass on her journey to the mayor’s office.
The vice president had endorsed the congresswoman for mayor and joined Bass at a rally the day before Election Day and again on Election Day to show her support for the mayoral candidate.
Besides Harris, Bass was endorsed by a number of other big-name politicians, including President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Bass handily defeated developer Rick Caruso in what many had expected to be a tight race to become the 43rd mayor of L.A. She will take over for outgoing Mayor Eric Garcetti, another Democrat.
As of late last week, Bass had received 509,852 votes (54.8% of the votes) while Caruso had received 419,950 votes (45.2%), according to Friday’s vote tally update from the L.A. County registrar’s office. The registrar was expected to certify the election results on Monday, Dec. 5.
Although Bass’ term as mayor won’t start until Monday, Dec. 12, she will hold her inaugural ceremony a day early “to make it easier for Angelenos to attend and to ensure her first day as mayor is dedicated to bringing unhoused Angelenos inside and making our city safer and more livable for all,” the Office of the Mayor-elect said in a news release.
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Bass had previously pledged to declare a state of emergency to combat L.A.’s homelessness crisis her first day on the job.
Sunday’s inauguration ceremony, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., will be held in front of the Spring Street entrance to City Hall, at 200 N. Spring St.
Members of the public who would like to attend should reserve a spot at mobilize.us/karenbass. Space is limited.