California: Democrats Look to Bass for Watson’s Seat
By Emily Cadei
Posted February 12, 2010 at 5:29pmSpeculation about possible successors to retiring Rep. Diane Watson (D) is centering on former state Assembly Speaker Karen Bass.
Local Democrats say Bass would be a favorite to win a primary should she run.
Watson, 76, announced last week that she will not run for a sixth term.
Watson won her seat in the heavily Democratic district in a 2001 special election and has successfully defended it since then, consistently winning more than 80 percent of the vote.
Watson did not try to anoint a successor, telling the Los Angeles Times that she wanted to look at all of the candidates in the race to succeed her before deciding whom to endorse.