Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass will deliver her State of the City address Monday, about two months after she launched her re-election campaign.
The 2026 State of the City address, set for 3 p.m. Monday, is scheduled a couple of months earlier than usual. As State of City addresses typically happen between March and April in LA, Bass’ 2025 speech was done in April.
“As Los Angeles prepares to enter the most intensive – and exciting – three-year period of major sporting events that any city in the world has ever experienced, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass will give a State of the City Address to set the tone for the year ahead, the mayor’s office said. “The State of the City will reflect on this moment and serve as a unifying celebration of Los Angeles, the city that we love: its people, neighborhoods, and cultures.”
During her 2025 address, the Mayor struck an aspirational tone, leaning into a global vision for Los Angeles and a message of unity as the city prepares to host major international events.
Now with the FIFA World Cup only months away, Mayor Bass is expected to position herself as the leader to carry the city forward by holding the State of the City Address on the very day challengers are looking to enter the race for Mayor.
“This is one of the great positives for someone like mayor of Los Angeles. It is an election year. She is running for reelection,” Dr. Fernando Guerra, political science professor with Loyola Marymount University, said.
Guerra said Bass, who is in campaign mode, will most likely use the State of the City speech to highlight how sporting events are an opportunity to bring the city together.
“She’s got to make people feel good in terms of some very directed action on homelessness, the rebuilding of the palisades, public safety, the major issues that cities are responsible for,” Guerra said.
The mayoral election is June 2, just days before the World Cup kicks off.