First black woman will lead California Assembly

Nancy Vogel, Los Angeles Times

With a resounding “aye,” the state Assembly on Thursday elected Karen Bass, a Los Angeles Democrat, as its 67th speaker.

“I am deeply honored and deeply humbled by the trust you have placed in me,” Bass, 54, said moments after the vote that will vault her to one of California’s most powerful political positions. She will be the first African American woman to hold the job.

The daughter of a mail carrier and a homemaker, Bass grew up in the Venice-Fairfax area and worked as a physician assistant and community organizer before her 2004 election to the Assembly

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