Bass and Raman face off Tuesday in Los Angeles mayoral runoff
The two candidates, once allies, will decide who leads the city through the 2028 Olympics and a rising homelessness crisis.
By Allison Rojas ·
Los Angeles voters will decide on Tuesday who will serve as mayor, ending a nine-month contest between incumbent Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman.
According to the latest Berkeley IGS/L.A. Times poll, the race is currently in a dead heat. One in five surveyed residents remains undecided.
Raman, 45, launched her bid in February. At the time, she was a technocrat aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America. Bass, 73, had publicly endorsed Raman in January before Raman withdrew her support weeks later.
The two candidates were once political allies. Bass supported Raman during a difficult reelection bid in 2024. Now, they trade sharp criticisms in television ads and news conferences.
Raman has framed the election as a choice between ineffective leadership and necessary change. She pointed to the unfinished SkyLink people mover at Los Angeles International Airport. The project is years behind schedule and $1.4 billion over budget.
At a news conference near the site on Thursday, Raman said, “From the biggest projects to the most basic services, the hallmark of this mayor’s administration is Angelenos pay more and get less, and you get a lot of mismanagement and lies along the way.”
Bass has argued that Raman frequently changes her positions. All 14 of Bass' council colleagues have backed her. Bass accused Raman of freezing out constituents in the Hollywood Hills who disagree with her.
Bass told an audience at her Baldwin Hills headquarters, “I’ve been taking care of the constituent complaints in her district for four years. And by the way, the reason I started doing that was to help her.”
The winner will manage the city as it hosts the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. If the event loses money, the city must cover the first $270 million of the deficit.
Homelessness numbers in Los Angeles have risen after two years of decline. The next mayor will also negotiate new contracts with city employee unions starting in January.
Negotiations with the Los Angeles Police Protective League are set to begin. The union's political action committee has spent about $6 million against Raman in the runoff.
Dan Schnur, a political communications professor at USC and UC Berkeley, noted the dilemma for undecided voters. He said the choice is between sticking with an unsatisfying status quo or taking a risk with a relatively unknown quantity who could make things better or worse.
