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Los Angeles Mayor
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Projected Winner
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Nithya Raman
52.1%
429,450 -
Karen Bass
47.9%
394,796
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Progressive challenger and Councilmember Nithya Raman has defeated incumbent and one-time political ally Karen Bass in a monumental election for Los Angeles mayor that sent a jolt across the city’s political landscape.
Raman, 45, held a 52% to 48% lead in a round of election results released Wednesday and widened that gap in a results drop Thursday morning, two days after Election Day. Raman’s advantage of 405,193 to 379,069 votes Wednesday night expanded Thursday morning to 429,450 to 394,796 votes, according to figures from county elections officials.
The update with 76% of the expected vote in continued a trend of increasing margins in Raman’s favor since early Wednesday morning. NBC News projected a Raman win Thursday morning, making Bass the first incumbent to fail in a re-election bid for Los Angeles mayor since Jim Hahn was ousted by Antonio Villaraigosa in 2005.
In a video published Thursday morning on YouTube, Raman thanked voters and commended Bass as she spoke from a scenic lookout with downtown Los Angeles in the background.
“Los Angeles, I am deeply honored to be your next mayor,” Raman said. “Thank you to the thousands of people who knocked on doors, sent texts, made phone calls, convinced their neighbors to believe in the promise of this big beautiful city that we get to call home.
“I also wanted to pay tribute to Mayor Karen Bass. Someone who has given decades of her life to making this city what it is today. From her time as an emergency room nurse to starting Community Coalition to her leadership in Sacramento and in D.C., and then becoming the first woman mayor of Los Angeles, she has served Los Angeles for so many decades, and I know that so many people, not just across this city but across this country, are grateful for her dedication to the promise of Los Angeles.”
Scroll to read Raman’s full statement below.
The dramatic turn of events marks a political first for Bass, who has never lost an election for public office in Los Angeles, Sacramento and Washington, D.C.
“While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken,” Bass said in a statement Thursday. “I have called Councilmember Nithya Raman to congratulate her on her victory, and I have committed to ensuring a smooth and seamless transition. Moving this city forward is what Los Angeles needs from all of us.
“I love Los Angeles. I believe in Los Angeles. And I will continue to ensure the promise of a better life belongs to all of us. Thank you.”
Scroll to read Bass’ full statement below.
The progressive candidate’s projected victory mean Los Angeles will become one of three major U.S. cities that will be led by politicians with support of democratic socialists, including New York with Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Washington, D.C.’s Janeese Lewis George, who won the mayor’s race this week. Raman had the endorsement of the Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.
The November political shakeup comes nine months after Raman, who will be sworn into office in December, joined the field for the June primary and announced a surprise challenge to Bass. The mayor finished with 34% of the vote in the June election with Raman finishing second, good enough to join the November runoff, at 29%. Former reality TV star Spencer Pratt finished third at 25.5%.
In the November general election, Bass’ narrow early lead after the first election night returns diminished hours later with Raman pulling ahead overnight as the ballot count continued into Wednesday. Raman consistently polled well with a base of younger voters, who tend to cast ballots closer to Election Day.
Those votes typically show up in results later in the vote-counting process.
“When bigger tranches of the vote are counted, you’re going to see that lead grow,” said Dr. Fernando Guerra, NBCLA political contributor, said Wednesday. “I would imagine, given the trends we saw in June and previous elections, that Nithya Raman will definitely be the next mayor of Los Angeles.”
The two candidates have not delivered public remarks about the results since election night. It was not immediately clear whether they planned to speak Thursday.
At her election night party, Bass was defiant.
“Four years ago, you gave me the honor of a lifetime to serve as the mayor of the city that raised me, the city my parents chose to build a life in, and the city I have spent my entire life fighting for,” Bass said. “And every single day, I have carried that responsibility with me.”
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Raman, speaking at her election night party in Griffith Park, said voters demanded change.
“They are angry about a broken status quo and the politicians who failed them over and over again. But change feels good, doesn’t it?” Raman said. “We have so much to celebrate tonight here in Los Angeles. This election is about change, too, a city that was engineered over the last few decades to resist change, and the people right here who said enough is enough, because for too long our broken and unjust status quo has convinced Angelenos that this is the best that we can do.
“Our City Hall became a place where we became so used to saying ‘no,’ we forgot how to say ‘yes,'” Raman said.
Raman thanked her supporters for refusing to give up and supporting her campaign.
“You saw hopelessness and you chose hope because you know that Los Angeles is a city with hope in its soil, a city built on dreams and ambition and a refusal to accept the status quo. The city is the most incredible place in the world,” Raman said.
Bass was seeking a second term leading the second-largest city in the nation. She defeated real estate developer Rick Caruso in the 2022 election and had the endorsement of all but one of Raman’s colleagues on the Los Angeles City Council. Caruso said he planned to vote for Bass in this year’s election.
Her campaign attacked Raman in the weeks before Election Day over public safety, specifically her stated intent to oust LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell. McDonnell has served the department for three decades and was appointed chief by Bass in 2024.
In a statement Thursday, the Los Angeles Police Protective League said its president reached out to the mayor-elect.
“First, we congratulate Mayor-elect Nithya Raman on running a successful campaign,” the LAPPL said. “We fully accept the results. She will now have the awesome responsibility of leading the 2nd largest city in the nation. All Angelenos have a vested interest in her success. That is why early this morning LAPPL President Ricky Mendoza reached out to Mayor-elect Raman to establish a dialogue and congratulate her.
“Los Angeles police officers and others are filled with uncertainty and angst at the prospect of major cuts to the LAPD that will reverse the progress made in reducing crime. Mayor-elect Raman has stated that she does not want staffing levels to decrease from current levels, we share that goal and are committed to ensuring enough officers remain to keep our residents, the Olympics, and our officers safe.”
Raman’s campaign team faced criticism in October when it shared, then removed, a social media video that featured the councilwoman and an influencer. In the video, Raman urged people to stop “fascist liars” as images of Bass and McDonnell appeared on-screen — edits the campaign said were later added without Raman’s knowledge.
Raman, of Silver Lake, was born in India and moved to the United States as a child. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Social Studies/Political Theory from Harvard University in 2003 and a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She co-founded the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition and also served in the Office of the city administrative Officer.
Before running for council, Raman was executive director of Time’s Up Entertainment. The group aims to combat sexual harassment in Hollywood.
Raman is married to Vali Chandrasekaran, the TV writer and producer behind “Modern Family” and “30 Rock.”
Raman defeated incumbent David Ryu in the November 2020 election.
Raman has repeatedly said she is running to fix a “broken city” under Bass. She has criticized Bass for pursuing large contracts and projects, such as a billion-dollar agreement to raise salaries for police officers and a costly effort to modernize the downtown convention center.
Raman has shared plans to improve basic city services, bolster housing production, reduce the cost of living and support the entertainment industry, among other issues.
The two also sparred over homelessness, public safety and housing.
Born in Los Angeles, Bass is a 1982 graduate of the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program in 1982. She was a physician’s assistant who later started Community Coalition in response to the crack-cocaine epidemic and other issues before turning to politics.
Bass appeared to be gaining momentum a week before the election when a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by The Los Angeles Times showed the incumbent and challenger both with support at 40% from likely Los Angeles voters. Nineteen percent remain undecided, according to the poll.
The figures represent a dramatic turnaround from the last Berkeley IGS/LA Times poll in the closely watched mayoral race, which showed Councilmember Raman, a former Bass ally, with a double-digit lead. A sizeable 33% of likely voters were undecided in the previous poll published in late September.
Raman was favored by 39% of likely Los Angeles voters with Bass at 28% in the September poll.
The drop-off in undecided voters since then likely contributed to the comeback for Bass, who has never lost an election for public office, according to the poll’s director. That decline in undecided voters was significant among conservative voters who supported reality TV star Spencer Pratt in the June primary, director Mark DiCamillo told the Times.
In the September poll, 22% of Pratt voters indicated they planned to vote for Bass and 16% said they would vote for Raman. That left 63% of Pratt voters undecided.
In the latest poll, 41% of Pratt voters said they plan to back Bass over the candidate endorsed by the Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. Raman’s support among Pratt voters was at 14% in the October poll. Forty-five percent of Pratt voters remained undecided, according to the poll.
The poll released Wednesday was conducted online Oct. 19 and Oct. 25 in English and Spanish with a sample of 2,197 likely city of Los Angeles voters. The margin of error is about 3 percentage points, according to the Times.
The mayor’s favorable ratings, which took a significant decline after the January 2025 wildfires, remained low with 65% of respondents viewing her unfavorably. That figure was at 64% in the September poll. Thirty-two percent had a positive view of the mayor, according to the latest poll, up from 28% in the earlier poll.
“Los Angeles, I am deeply honored to be your next mayor,” Raman said. “Thank you to the thousands of people who knocked on doors, sent texts, made phone calls, convinced their neighbors to believe in the promise of this big beautiful city that we get to call home.
“I also wanted to pay tribute to Mayor Karen Bass. Someone who has given decades of her life to making this city what it is today. From her time as an emergency room nurse to starting Community Coalition to her leadership in Sacramento and in D.C., and then becoming the first woman mayor of Los Angeles, she has served Los Angeles for so many decades, and I know that so many people, not just across this city but across this country, are grateful for her dedication to the promise of Los Angeles.
“To every voter out there who voted for Mayor Bass or who chose not to vote in this election at all, please know this. I am going to City Hall to work every single day to earn your trust, and to earn your trust in this city again. And, that work starts now, so that we can build housing that people can afford, parks for our children to play in, a transit system that can get people where they need to go, a city that is safe for its working people and its families, and a city government that is actually capable of delivering on its promises. I love this city and I love its people, and I cannot wait to get started on building a better future together with all of you.”
Bass released the following statement Thursday morning.
“Four years ago, you elected me as the first Black woman mayor in the history of Los Angeles. You gave me the honor of serving the city that raised me, and every single day since, I have carried that responsibility with me.
“I want to start by saying thank you. To my supporters, volunteers, brothers and sisters in labor, community and faith leaders, business leaders and elected officials, and the young people who brought so much energy to this effort: thank you. To my family, who stood beside me through every challenge and every long night: I could not do this without you.
“Over the past four years, we have taken on some of the most difficult challenges facing any major American city. Coming out of the pandemic, when encampments lined our streets and businesses were trying to reopen — we got Angelenos off the streets, made our neighborhoods safer, built more affordable housing, and created new opportunities for working families. We stood together through devastating wildfires and protected our immigrant communities when Donald Trump sent federal troops into our streets to spread fear and intimidation. That progress belongs to all of us.
“While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken. I have called Councilmember Nithya Raman to congratulate her on her victory, and I have committed to ensuring a smooth and seamless transition. Moving this city forward is what Los Angeles needs from all of us.
“I love Los Angeles. I believe in Los Angeles. And I will continue to ensure the promise of a better life belongs to all of us. Thank you.”
“I extend my congratulations to Mayor-elect Nithya Raman and her family on her election as the next Mayor of Los Angeles. I look forward to working together to strengthen public safety and address the challenges facing our communities, particularly as we prepare for major events such as the Super Bowl and Olympic Games. The Sheriff’s Department values its longstanding partnership with the City and the Los Angeles Police Department and looks forward to building on that relationship to better serve and protect our residents.”
“I congratulate Councilmember Nithya Raman on her election as Mayor of Los Angeles and wish her success as she takes on this important responsibility. Our City faces significant challenges, and I hope her administration will remain focused on delivering meaningful results for Angelenos, particularly when it comes to public safety, homelessness, and improving essential City services. My commitment has always been to the residents of the 12th District and the City of Los Angeles, and I look forward to working collaboratively with the incoming administration to move our City forward.”
