Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is being blasted for backing out of an upcoming mayoral forum just days after she took a beating in a LA mayoral debate, with Spencer Pratt being declared the winner, per an online poll.
“The League of Women Voters and the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs regret to announce that Mayor Karen Bass has withdrawn from the televised Los Angeles mayoral forum scheduled for May 13 on FOX 11,” a statement posted on Instagram from organizers read.
“The forum was organized to give Los Angeles voters the opportunity to hear directly from candidates seeking to lead the city through a period of extraordinary challenges.”
“Five candidates were invited and four candidates committed to participate: Mayor Bass, Councilmember Nithya Raman, businessman Adam Miller, and community advocate Rae Huang accepted the invitation and signed forms confirming their attendance,” it added, noting that the former reality star-turned LA mayor hopeful had declined citing a conflict with his schedule.
“We are disappointed that voters will be denied the opportunity to see the Mayor side-by-side with her main opponents in a televised forum just as voters are beginning to really pay attention to the race,” Mike Bonin, who runs the Pat Brown Institute, told The Post in a statement.
Bonin also said that when they started talking about the forum, they “checked with various campaigns on their schedules and the Mayor’s team said she would be available for a forum on May 13.”
Given that information, Bonin said they invited her leading challengers for an event on that day, noting that invites were sent out and the Mayor confirmed her appearance on the 22nd of April.
Included in the organizer’s post, was a picture of a document signed by the mayor on April 22 confirming her attendance at the 2026 Mayoral Candidate Forum on May 13.
“On May 7, Mayor Bass withdrew, with her campaign consultant indicating they had debated their two main opponents, who made clear they were not up for the job, and they were done with debates,” Bonin added.
The mayor’s campaign has defended dropping out of the forum.
“Mayor Bass will be in Sacramento that day fighting for funding for housing, homelessness, and Palisades Fire recovery, and will also discuss the city and state partnership on the Olympics and World Cup,” campaign spokesperson Alex Stack told FOX 11.
Bonin said on the 8th her team told reporters she would be in Sacramento, but “at no point did the Mayor’s campaign indicate they had a conflict on the date that they chose and confirmed.”
The announcement also explained the the women’s voter league and institute have a “long track record of co-sponsoring candidate forums that are fair, non-partisan, substantive, and focused on issues that matter most to voters.”
“We remain committed to providing voters with meaningful opportunities to engage with those seeking public office.”
At this point, the debate is still scheduled to be aired live at 6 PM on FOX 11 on Wednesday May 13 with candidates Miller, Huang and Raman, the outlet noted.
The Post reached out to the mayor’s campaign for further comment.
