Nithya Raman will serve as Los Angeles’ next mayor.
Raman, who received 52.1% of the vote, challenged incumbent Karen Bass, who earned 47.9% of the vote as of Thursday morning, according to the Associated Press. A current city councilmember representing parts of Central LA and the San Fernando Valley, Raman entered the race hours before the filing deadline after previously supporting Bass during the mayor’s 2022 election bid.
The runoff election – the first to feature an incumbent mayor since 2005 – came after Bass faced criticism for her handling of the 2025 LA fires. Bass was also scrutinized for her initiative to address homelessness, Inside Safe, which has spent more than $390 million as of April, with 40% of people helped ending up back on the street, according to an LA city controller report.
“While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken,” Bass said in a Thursday morning press release. “I have called Councilmember Nithya Raman to congratulate her on her victory, and I have committed to ensuring a smooth and seamless transition.”
Though Raman held an 11-point lead in a September UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll, Bass eliminated Raman’s lead by late October. Both candidates captured 40% of the vote in the most recent Berkeley IGS poll.
Raman spent her last day before Tuesday’s election rallying at UCLA alongside United Auto Workers Local 4811, a union representing 60,000 workers across the UC.
“We will stand up against ICE in this city,” Raman said at the rally. “We will stand up for our LGBTQ+ community. We’re going to stand up against corporate landlords. We’re going to stand up for affordable housing and functioning streets. But we have to do it together.”
LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia, who supported Raman at the rally, said in an interview that Raman is the right candidate to prepare Westwood for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. UCLA will be the Olympic Village in 2028, hosting more than 15,000 athletes.
“She knows how to manage the city,” Mejia said. “She reduced homelessness in her district by over half, and she knows how to provide basic city services, provide greater transportation, infrastructure – making sure that we’re making decisions that center the people.”
Bass campaigned on building affordable housing on underutilized public lands, expanding the number of sworn LAPD officers and continuing to build on her work to protect immigrant communities.
The Democratic Socialists of America narrowly voted to maintain its endorsement of Raman days before the election, despite criticism from members of the group that she has not supported the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel. Raman said at the Jewish Los Angeles Mayoral Forum on Sept. 29 that while she sees the movement as a legitimate form of peaceful protest, it is not part of her political platform.
Raman did not receive any endorsements from other LA city councilmembers. Thirteen of the 15 city councilmembers endorsed Bass.
Raman’s campaign platforms included implementing less costly methods to reduce street homelessness, bolstering protections for LA’s immigrant communities and streamlining the approval process for new housing projects in the city.
Bass and Raman’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the projected results.
“We deserve a city that works for all of us,” Raman said at the rally. “And I am so happy to be here with all of you, building that city together.”
