Nithya Raman narrowly leads Karen Bass in tight L.A. mayor’s race – Los Angeles Times

Nithya Raman narrowly leads Karen Bass in tight L.A. mayor’s race  Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman pulled narrowly ahead of Mayor Karen Bass, her onetime political ally, in the race to lead the nation's second largest city, according to partial returns released Wednesday. Bass, a veteran politician who had been politically weakened in the wake of the 2025 Palisades fire, had been attempting to hold off a vigorous challenge from Raman, who stunned the city's establishment this year by entering the race at the last minute. Appearing before a boisterous audience at the Greek Theatre plaza, Raman said her campaign was about taking on the status quo. L.A., she said, has stopped "being a place where we could build things, where we could open things, where we could film things." "Hopelessness can be fatal for a city," she told the crowd.

"But this campaign refused to accept that. You refused to accept that. You saw hopelessness and you chose hope, because you know that Los Angeles is a city with hope in its soil." Bass, addressing her election night party earlier in the evening, voiced confidence that she would prevail, saying her administration had worked to make neighborhoods safer, bring homeless people off the streets and creating more job opportunities for working people. "I will always fight for the city that we deserve," said Bass, addressing a cheering crowd at