California Poll: LA Mayor's Approval Rating Plummets

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass' approval rating has tanked in the aftermath of the wildfires that destroyed parts of the city, according to a new independent poll released Friday. One indicator showed "opportunity for new leadership."

The poll, sponsored by Los Angeles-based media firm Madison McQueen, shows that 54% of likely L.A. voters disapprove of Bass' handling of the fires, with 37% approving.

Further, Bass trails fellow Democrat Rick Caruso, whom she defeated in the 2022 mayoral election, by 7 points — 43% to 36% — in a hypothetical rematch in 2026, according to the poll.

"Rather than follow predictable partisan patterns, voters in L.A. are fed up with failure and are demanding more competence from their elected officials," said Owen Brennan, co-founder of Madison McQueen. "Clearly, there is an opportunity for new leadership, new ideas, and new direction for Los Angeles."

Bass is facing intense scrutiny on a number of fronts, most notably for being in Ghana when the fires broke out despite warnings that high winds were coming. Further, fire hydrants ran out of water, the Santa Ynez Reservoir was empty when the Palisades Fire broke out, and more than half the city's fire trucks sat idle in disrepair, thanks to Bass' budget cuts to the Los Angeles Fire Department that left it short of mechanics to fix them.

"To have a main reservoir out of service during peak fire season, I mean, that's border negligence," Caruso told HBO host Bill Maher last week. "Running this city is running a business for the benefit of the residents, and what everybody should have been saying [was] 'we had all the alerts about the firestorm coming in or the winds coming in ... why wasn't more done?'"

Further, 43% of those surveyed said they would likely consider voting for a Republican in deep-blue Los Angeles County in future elections, according to the poll.

Pollster David Wolfson conducted the survey for Madison McQueen, polling 1,134 likely voters from Jan. 19-22. Poll results have a margin of error of +/- 4% with a 95% confidence level.

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