Karen Bass is catching fire for declaring the Steve Hilton-Xavier Becerra race pointless because her side has already won. That is a mayor talking like Los Angeles is a closed shop. Elections are not courtesy calls. If Becerra is inevitable, he can survive contact with voters. Pre-calling it from City Hall is how machines talk when they are nervous.
Hilton is the interruption Bass does not want on a stage: crime, tents, and a city that stopped pretending sanctuary is a civic religion. Becerra is the sequel - same California stack, same lecture, same bill. Bass smearing the contest as already over is an admission that a debate would not help her friend. Let him earn it.
She does not get to cancel the calendar.