Rep. Karen Bass’ L.A. mayor campaign manager departs

Jamarah Hayner has departed as Rep. Karen Bass’ campaign manager in the Los Angeles mayor’s race, a campaign spokesperson said Monday.

Hayner, who had been with the campaign since it launched in September, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. She previously managed Dist. Atty. George Gascón’s 2020 campaign.

Anna Bahr, a spokesperson for Bass’ campaign, said that Hayner’s departure was amicable and that the campaign was grateful for her work and wished her luck with her consulting firm.

Bass is the early front-runner to succeed Mayor Eric Garcetti in a field that also includes City Atty. Mike Feuer, City Councilmen Joe Buscaino and Kevin de León and real estate developer Rick Caruso.

A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by The Times released last week showed Bass with a wide lead over the other candidates, although the largest group of likely voters remain undecided.

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Meanwhile, Jenny Delwood — the executive vice president at Liberty Hill Foundation, a progressive nonprofit — is joining the campaign in an unspecified position, according to Bahr and Delwood.

Delwood, who served as district director for Bass when she was state Assembly speaker, said she will begin work with the Bass campaign on Feb.28.

Hayner is not the first high-profile Bass advisor to depart.

Two veteran Democratic political strategists, Parke Skelton and Steve Barkan, left their consultant positions with the campaign in December. Skelton’s wife, Alison Morgan, who had been fundraising in Los Angeles for the Bass campaign, also departed in December. Another Los Angeles fundraiser, Lisa Cassinis, left the campaign before Morgan was brought on.

“This is a long campaign with many different stages. Other candidates in the race have spent years planning their run and building their teams — the congresswoman got started fresh last fall. It takes time to lock in staff for a year-long campaign,� Bahr said in a statement.