Nithya Raman Defeats Incumbent Karen Bass to Become Los Angeles Mayor

Nithya Raman will be the next mayor of Los Angeles after defeating incumbent Karen Bass in the November 4, 2026, election. With roughly three-quarters of expected ballots counted on November 5, Raman held about 52 percent to Bass’s 48 percent. Bass called Raman to concede and promised a smooth transition. Raman becomes the first candidate to unseat a sitting Los Angeles mayor in more than two decades.

Raman, 45, is an India-born urban planner who first won a seat on the Los Angeles City Council in 2020. She entered the mayoral race hours before the filing deadline after initially endorsing Bass. She received the endorsement of the local Democratic Socialists of America chapter and built support among younger renters. In her election-night remarks she said the city had had enough of establishment politics and that the broken status quo was over. She has pledged to cut street homelessness in half before Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Olympics.

Bass, the first Black woman to serve as mayor of Los Angeles, faced criticism over the city’s response to the January 2025 Palisades fire, which killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,800 structures. She was outside the country when the fire ignited. Voters also cited housing costs and the roughly 44,000 people living without shelter in the city. Raman finished second to Bass in the primary after outlasting Republican Spencer Pratt, then expanded her lead in the runoff.

Major unions and most of Raman’s colleagues on the City Council had backed Bass. Raman won despite that opposition. With her victory, both New York City and Los Angeles will be led by candidates who received Democratic Socialists of America support. Raman has noted differences with New York’s Zohran Mamdani and has said she is willing to break with progressive positions when the facts require it. She takes office as the city prepares for the 2028 Olympics and continues to manage recovery from the 2025 fires.

Bass said in a statement that the people of Los Angeles had spoken and that she would ensure a seamless handover. Raman thanked Bass for decades of service and said she would work to earn the trust of those who voted against her. The final certified count will come later, but the margin and Bass’s concession make the outcome clear. The change hands control of America’s second-largest city to a council member who entered the race at the last moment and defeated an incumbent backed by the local political establishment.