LA Mayor Race Tied at 40%

Los Angeles voters are deadlocked, with both mayoral candidates sitting at 40% approval in the latest polling data released ahead of the November 3 election. The race hinges on a bloc of undecided voters who previously supported Spencer Pratt, a former reality television star who finished third in the primary with 217,977 votes.

In the June primary, Karen Bass secured 292,593 votes, accounting for 34.3% of the total. Nithya Raman followed with 247,781 votes. Turnout in that primary was low, with only 39,539 voters participating out of a registered electorate of 2,216,699, a participation rate of just 37%.

The current tie reflects a shift from September, when Raman led Bass by 11 points. Mark DiCamillo, director of the Berkeley IGS Poll, attributed Bass's recovery to her appeal to conservative undecided voters who felt represented by Pratt's campaign. The poll was conducted by the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times.

Bass, who has never lost a public election, expressed optimism during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Boyle Heights for a housing building for young adults who aged out of the foster care system. She stated that the growing support and momentum are in her favor, though she acknowledged that the final decision rests with the voters.

Raman concluded her campaign with a visit to Union and Hoover in downtown Los Angeles for Dia de los Muertos. Her recent surge in the polls came after Bass courted the Pratt base, a group that had previously driven a drop in Raman's support in September.

Key issues driving voter anxiety include the city's homeless population, business closures, and the LAPD budget. A major point of contention is the 911 response time. The New York Post reported that in 2024, the LAPD dispatch center answered only half of 911 calls within 15 seconds, missing the state requirement of 90%. Over 500,000 callers waited at least 40 seconds, with some reporting waits of up to an hour during active crimes.

One incident that gained national attention involved Evan Lovett, a content creator, who waited 59 minutes for a 911 response during a home invasion in Studio City. After the call was eventually connected, LAPD officers arrived at the scene in six minutes.

The campaign has also been marked by disputes over local history and policy. Raman was criticized for referring to the LAPD under former chief Daryl Gates as operating under a gold standard. Gates led the department during the 1991 beating of Rodney King, which sparked riots in April 1992. Raman later clarified she was referencing Special Order 40, which limits cooperation with federal immigration authorities, and issued an apology.

Voters are also weighing the city's infrastructure failures, including broken water pipes and the Los Angeles International Airport terminal project, which is over $1 billion over budget and delayed from its original 2023 completion date. Bass faced criticism for being out of town during the Palisades fire in January 2025 and the Lineage fire in June 2025, the latter occurring while she was in Chicago for the Barack Obama Presidential Center dedication.

Local residents expressed mixed sentiments on the candidates. Virginia Morales, a resident of East Los Angeles, supported Bass for her presence during natural disasters. Conversely, Jose Luis Rivera, a manager at Pete Burgers, voted by mail for Raman, citing Bass's unfulfilled promise to clean up the city's homeless population. Rivera stated that nothing has changed under Bass's tenure.