For the city of Los Angeles, the mayoral race is in between incumbent Karen Bass and city council member Nithya Raman.
Both democrats, Bass represents the centrist democratic establishment, while Raman, a progressive democrat, is endorsed by the Democratic Socialist Association. In the beginning, Raman endorsed Bass, until the mere hours of the filing deadline where she herself entered the race.
Polls have consistently showed the race is based on a generational divide, according to the New York Times. Voters under 40 are leaning toward Raman and voters over 65 supporting Bass. The UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by The Los Angeles Times shows both Raman and Bass tied with 40%, with 19% remaining undecided.
Top issues Los Angelenos are concerned about are: housing costs and developments, homelessness, deteriorating infrastructure, high costs of living and public safety.
Raman has been a Los Angeles City Council member representing District 4 since Dec. 2020. Raman has her Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Social Studies and Political Theory from Harvard University and a Master in City Planning (MCP) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Born in India, she comes from an immigrant background and has lived in Los Angeles for 13 years.
Mayor Bass is running for a second term as mayor. Bass comes from a multi-faceted background as she started out working as a Physician Assistant and was elected to represent California’s 47th Assembly district in 2004. In 2008, she was elected speaker of the Assembly. Then, Bass ran for California’s 33rd congressional district in 2010 and was elected with over 86% majority. Lastly, Bass has been serving as mayor since 2022.
49% of the votes counted
Karen Bass: 50.9%
Nithya Raman: 49.1%
Last updated: 9:03 p.m.