Gov. Gavin Newsom endorsed Mayor Karen Bass in her bid for reelection Thursday, lauding her for reductions in street homelessness and violent crime in Los Angeles. <\/p>\n
Newsom\u2019s endorsement comes just days before Angelenos head to the polls in Tuesday\u2019s primary election<\/a>, where Bass is locked in a close race with challengers Nithya Raman and Spencer Pratt.<\/p>\n \u201cThe work Karen Bass is doing in Los Angeles is making our entire state stronger, with an 18% decline in homelessness while it grew nationally, historic drops in violent crime, boosting film production in L.A., and protecting our communities against ICE. She has my full support for reelection,\u201d Newsom said in a statement shared with The Times. <\/p>\n A poll released Thursday by UC Berkeley Institute for Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by The Times, found Bass has 26% support from likely voters. Raman, a city council member, was at 25% and Pratt was at 22%.<\/p>\n Mark DiCamillo, who runs Berkeley IGS, called Bass\u2019 lead \u201cstatistically insignificant.\u201d<\/p>\n Newsom becomes the most recent high-profile elected official or former elected official to back Bass.<\/p>\n Former Vice President Kamala Harris has endorsed<\/a> Bass, as have U.S. Sens. Adam Schiff (D-Calif) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) <\/p>\n In March, Newsom said he broadly supported<\/a> Bass\u2019 bid for reelection, though he stopped short of a formal endorsement then. <\/p>\n