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By Chico C. Norwood, Staff Writer --  

About one week after Congresswoman Diane E. Watson announced that she will retire from Congress, California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass on Feb. 17 announced that she will run for Watson’s 33rd District U.S. congressional seat.

Bass informed the local media Feb. 16 of her plans, and did so more publicly at a press conference held at her district office in Los Angeles on Feb. 17. Bass was joined by Watson, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, City Controller Wendy Greuel and others standing in support.

On March 1, Bass will no longer be speaker of the Assembly. A kickoff for her congressional campaign is scheduled for Feb. 27.

“I have considered doing this for quite some time,” Bass told media members in the Feb. 16 teleconference, but she said that, out of respect for Watson, she refrained from publicly revealing the matter until Watson announced her intentions to retire.

Watson endorsed Bass for her seat during the teleconference, calling the speaker a “skilled, intelligent leader.”

“I feel comfortable and satisfied that Karen will pick up the baton and will serve the people of the (33rd) Congressional District, the people of California, and the people of the United States of America with excellence. I have full confidence in her,” Watson said. “We have worked with her, I mean Mark Ridley-Thomas and others, and we’re proud of her leadership, and I am proud that she will be running for my seat.”

Describing Watson as a mentor, Bass credits the longtime politico for helping launch her political career. Bass, 56, advanced through the ranks to become the first African American woman to hold the position of Assembly speaker.

“One of the main reasons I ran for the Assembly was because she (Watson) encouraged me to do so, because there were no African American women in Legislature at the time I won my election,” Bass said.

The 33rd Congressional District is the most diverse one in California, according to Watson. It includes many communities, such as Koreatown, Hancock Park, the Wilshire Corridor, the “Miracle Mile,” Little Armenia, Hollywood, Los Feliz and other locales. It also includes the neighborhoods of Baldwin Hills, Ladera Heights, Mid-Wilshire, View Park and Windsor Hills.

The district has the largest number of South Koreans outside of South Korea, a large Hispanic population, an Armenian community in Hollywood, a Pacific Islander community in the southern part and “a vigorous” African American community, she said.

“The district consists of some of the most expensive property in California and some of the lowest-income people in the southeastern part of (the) district,” she said. “It’s a district where you have to work, you have to appear, you have to know their issues. An issue that might work well south of Wilshire does not work well north of Wilshire.

“It takes someone with knowledge of the district … someone who can bring people together, someone who can recognize issues that are relevant to the issues of constituents. It takes someone with great leadership skills and a tremendous staff.”

Watson also said that, over the years, she watched Bass work with the Los Angeles-based Community Coalition organization before Bass was elected and “watched what she has been able to do,” adding she and others have encouraged Bass to run.

Watson announced Feb. 11 that she would not seek a sixth term. The 76-year-old is retiring to spend more time with her mother, who turned 100 this year.

“I want to spend some quality time with her at the end of year,” she said. “I will serve all the way through the election.”

Watson’s early political career began in 1975, the year she was elected to the Los Angeles Unified School District board; she became the first black woman to do so. About three years later, she was elected to the California State Senate.

“In 1993, she authored the California Birth Defects Monitoring Program Act, which led to pioneering research into the causes of birth defects, and the Residential Care Facilities Act, to ensure that senior citizens receive quality care in nursing and assisted living homes,” Watson’s Web site states. “In 1997, she introduced legislation to toughen food health safety requirements for restaurants. She also played a key role in the enactment of legislation to promote breast cancer research.”

In 1999, Watson served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia. In a special election in 2001, she won the 33rd District seat, and has served on many committees. Those committees included the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and she is chair of the Congressional Entertainment Industries Caucus.

“She has always been a popular leader, rating highest in polls among her peers on values such as integrity, honesty and hard work,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said in statement, describing Watson as a “mentor, colleague and friend.” “She is a true champion for the causes in which she believes, placing accountability above irresponsibility and the common interest above the special interest.”

In a prepared statement from the White House, President Barack Obama said, “Diane Watson has spent her life fighting for families in Los Angeles, especially those who too often didn’t have a voice.

“Diane blazed a historic trail from the L.A. public schools to the United States Congress where she continued to work to improve health care, education and opportunities for countless Americans. While we will miss her distinguished voice in Congress, Michelle and I extend our thanks to Diane for her service and our best wishes to her and her family for the future.”