California Congresswoman Karen Bass has emerged a leading contender to be Democrats' vice presidential candidate. Allies say her reputation as a bridge-builder would make her a strong partner to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
Karen Bass, 2008
Assembly Majority Leader Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, center, is joined by fellow legislators as she speaks at a news conference after she was elected to become the next speaker of the California State Assembly at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Steve Yeater)
Karen Bass, 2008
Assemblywoman Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, center, smiles as she is escorted to the podium of the Assembly Chambers by former Assembly Speakers, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, left, Herb Wesson Jr., second from left, Willie Brown, second from right, and Cruz Bustamante, right, during ceremonies where Bass was sworn in as Speaker of the California State Assembly at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, May 13, 2008. Bass, 54, becomes the first black woman to lead the California State Assembly.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Karen Bass, 2008
Assemblywoman Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, receives congratulations from Gov. Arnold Schwarzanegger, right, after she was sworn in as Speaker of the California State Assembly by her predecessor, Assemblyman Fabian Nunez, of Los Angeles, left, as state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, looks on during ceremonies at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, May 13, 2008. Bass, 54, becomes the first black woman to lead the California State Assembly. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Karen Bass, 2008
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, left, and Assembly Minority Leader Mike Villines, R-Clovis, discuss the state budget stalemate during a meeting in Bass's Capitol office in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, Aug. 18, 2008. The Assembly failed, on a party line vote, to approve a budget during a rare Sunday session. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Karen Bass, 2009
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles returns to her office after talking to reporters at the Capitol, in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, Feb. 16, 2009. Bass called on the Senate Republican caucus to provide one vote to approve the state budget plan worked out between legislative leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Karen Bass, 2009
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, told reporters that the Assembly would bring up, before the Assembly, a Democratic plan to deal with the state's pending cash crisis during a news conference at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Sunday, June 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Karen Bass, 2009
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, left, talks with reporters as she and state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, right, walk to the Governor's office in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009. Bass and Steinberg met with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Republican leaders of both houses to try to reach an agreement on the state's water issues. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Karen Bass, 2010
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, center, stands at the podium with Assembly speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, left, and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, right, after delivering his final State of the State address at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010. (AP Photo/Steve Yeater)
Karen Bass, 2010
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles answers a question concerning Gov. Arnold Schwarzengger's State of the State address during a news conference with State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Karen Bass, 2011
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio administers the House oath to Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., second from right, during a mock swearing-in ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Karen Bass, 2011
President Barack Obama gives a thumbs up as he walks out of Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles in Los Angeles, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011, with Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., after ordering a snack. Obama is on a three-day trip to the West Coast. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Karen Bass, 2012
Rep. Karen Bass of California addresses the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Karen Bass, 2015
President Barack Obama kissed Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, after he gave his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Karen Bass, 2016
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, left, tours the Community Coalition with Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., right, Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Karen Bass, 2019
Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., enters the staff committee room for a mock hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday, July 23, 2019, in Washington. Special counsel Robert Muller will testify before the committee on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Karen Bass, 2019
In this Dec. 12, 2019, file photo Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., listens during a House Judiciary Committee markup of the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Karen Bass, 2020
Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., speaks during a House Judiciary Committee markup of the Justice in Policing Act of 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 17, 2020. (Greg Nash/Pool via AP)
Karen Bass, 2020
Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., questions Attorney General William Barr during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the oversight of the Department of Justice on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, July 28, 2020 in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via AP)
Karen Bass, 2020
In this June 25, 2020, file photo Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., speaks during a news conference on the House East Front Steps on Capitol Hill in Washington ahead of the House vote on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
Karen Bass, 2008
Assemblywoman Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, second from right, smiles as she is sworn in as Speaker of the California State Assembly by her predecessor, Assemblyman Fabian Nunez, of Los Angeles, left, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger applauds during ceremonies at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, May 13, 2008. Bass, 54, becomes the first black woman to lead the California State Assembly. Second from left is Bass' stepdaughter Yvette Lechuga who held the bible used in the swearing in. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
