Nithya Raman Defeats Karen Bass in Los Angeles Mayoral Race
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman has ousted incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, becoming the first challenger to defeat a sitting L.A. mayor in over two decades. Bass conceded after Raman took a 52% to 48% lead with 76% of expected votes counted.
Nithya Raman will be the next mayor of Los Angeles. Incumbent Karen Bass conceded the race on Thursday after Raman built a four-point lead with many ballots still to be counted.
Raman, a Democratic socialist and city councilmember, surprised the political establishment by entering the race in February. She had publicly endorsed Bass for reelection just weeks earlier. The contest became a generational and political battle, with the candidates offering starkly different approaches to the city's dominant issues: homelessness, public safety, and affordable housing.
Bass focused her campaign on public safety and her administration's record, warning that Raman had opposed police funding. Raman argued the city needed fresh leadership unencumbered by established City Hall relationships. She was particularly popular among younger voters and the Hollywood entertainment industry, securing endorsements from figures like Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, and Adam Scott.
The Path to Victory
Raman's win followed a tight race that saw her momentum shift in the final weeks. After pushing past reality star Spencer Pratt in the June primary to face Bass, Raman led in several fall polls. However, a survey released a week before the election by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and the Los Angeles Times showed the candidates tied, each with 40% support among likely voters.
That late poll revealed a significant shift among Pratt's primary voters. Support for Bass among that group jumped from 22% in September to 41% in October. Raman's share of those voters fell slightly from 16% to 14%, while 45% remained undecided. On election night, early tallies gave Bass a slender lead, but Raman's strength with late-arriving mail ballots, which skew toward young voters and renters, propelled her ahead.
Contrasting Campaigns and Coalitions
The candidates' final campaign strategies highlighted their different bases. Bass, who received backing from much of the city's political establishment including Governor Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris, focused on older voters. She visited senior centers in West Adams and Northridge. Raman campaigned at bars, nightclubs, and college campuses.
Their supporting coalitions also differed. Bass had the support of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and the county's Democratic Party. Raman secured backing from groups like the left-wing Democratic Socialists of America and the transportation advocacy organization Streets For All. Billionaire developer Rick Caruso, who lost to Bass in the 2022 mayoral race, endorsed her in the final week, stating, "For the love of LA, I must put the past behind me."
Key Issues and Promises
Homelessness was the most important issue. Bass's administration said unsheltered homelessness had declined by 11%. Raman criticized her approach as costly and ineffective, pledging to halve street homelessness by the summer of 2028 and eliminate it entirely by the end of her first term. She pointed to a reduction in encampments in her own Hollywood Hills district as evidence her methods could work.
A Berkeley IGS/Los Angeles Times poll in late October found about 40% of likely voters considered reducing homeless encampments a top priority. Around 30% identified public safety and building more affordable housing as major concerns. Raman's notable legislative act was introducing a 2025 motion capping annual rent increases for tenants in older, rent-stabilized apartments, which passed the council 13-2.
A Historic Winner
Nithya Raman makes history on multiple fronts. She is the first Asian-American woman and first South Asian person to serve as mayor of Los Angeles. Born in Kerala, India in 1981, she moved to the U.S. at age six and became a citizen at 22. She holds degrees from Harvard University and MIT, worked as an urban planner, and co-founded a homeless advocacy nonprofit before being elected to the city council in 2020.
Addressing supporters at her election night event at the Greek Theatre plaza, Raman was cautiously optimistic. "I'm hopeful. I'm very hopeful," she told the crowd. I'm also really superstitious. So we're all just going to be cool, OK? Very cool. Bass, in her concession statement, said, While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken. She committed to ensuring a smooth transition. Bass, who began her career as a nurse and was the first Black woman to serve as Speaker of the California Assembly, said this would be her final campaign for office after more than two decades in public service.
