Nithya Raman has won the Los Angeles mayor race, unseating incumbent Karen Bass in a result that few in California politics had anticipated when Raman entered the contest as a long-shot challenger.
Bass, a former congresswoman who had never previously lost an election, acknowledged the outcome on social media Thursday, saying she had called Raman to concede. She described the result as not what her campaign had hoped for but said the city’s voters had made their choice, adding that she would keep working toward a better future for Los Angeles.
A shift further left in America's second-largest city
Los Angeles was always expected to elect a Democratic mayor. The open question was how far left the electorate would move. Raman’s victory answered that by placing a democratic socialist in charge of the nation’s second most populous city.
Her win means the two largest cities in the United States will both be led by democratic socialists. Raman has often drawn comparisons to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who shares her political affiliation and ran on a progressive platform. The broader movement also includes figures such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, among the most prominent elected officials in the country.
The result echoed Democratic gains in other parts of the country during the midterm elections, including in traditionally Republican areas that had not elected liberal leaders in decades. In Washington, D.C., voters chose democratic socialist Janeese Lewis George as mayor, adding another major city to the progressive column.
President Donald Trump, asked at the White House about victories by candidates on the left wing of the Democratic Party, said that history suggested the outcome would be a disaster. Republicans have made such candidates a central target of their attacks.
From long shot to front-runner
Raman, a city council member and an Indian immigrant, built her campaign around a promise to change what she called a broken status quo and to address the failures of politicians who had repeatedly let residents down. She campaigned on reducing homelessness, expanding housing, protecting Hollywood jobs from continued cuts and shielding residents from immigration enforcement efforts.
She also pledged to tackle a long list of city problems, including beautification efforts, road repairs and bringing back nightlife. Her support grew steadily, particularly among younger voters, after she began the race as an underdog. Earlier this year, she defeated reality television personality Spencer Pratt in the primary.
The dominant issue in the contest, however, was the 2025 Los Angeles fires, which killed dozens of people and destroyed neighborhoods across the area. Bass faced intense political fallout over her absence during the emergency and over the city’s response to the disaster.
The next mayor will preside over Los Angeles as it hosts the Super Bowl in 2027 and the Summer Olympics in 2028.
Bass had been a prominent member of Congress before becoming the city’s first Black female mayor. Her ties to Los Angeles run deep, including work as a community organizer during the 1992 riots that followed the police beating of Rodney King.
