By Maya Ellis | M•I•A MEDIA GROUP
Karen Bass entered the Los Angeles mayoral race with the backing of some of California’s most powerful Democrats and a record she believed justified a second term. She ended it by calling City Council member Nithya Raman, a former ally, to concede. Raman became the first challenger in more than two decades to defeat a sitting Los Angeles mayor. The result reflected a loss of confidence in Bass after the Palisades Fire and frustration with the pace of progress on homelessness and housing. Raman gave voters who shared those frustrations a credible alternative.
The Palisades Fire changed the race
The January 2025 Palisades Fire killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,800 structures. Bass was abroad when it began, and the fire department was caught unprepared, according to The Associated Press. The mayor’s absence became a lasting political liability because it gave residents a specific moment against which to judge her leadership. In a city accustomed to debating problems that take years to solve, the fire raised immediate questions about emergency preparation, communication and who was in charge when residents needed answers.
Raman turned that vulnerability into a broader argument about how City Hall responded to crises. One campaign ad showed an empty lectern against scenes of a warehouse fire, Skid Row and shuttered businesses. The imagery linked the criticism of Bass’ absence during the Palisades Fire to frustrations in other parts of the city. For voters far from the burn area, the campaign invited them to judge the incumbent by what they saw in their own neighborhoods.
Bass had progress to point to. Voters wanted to see more.
Bass had made homelessness a priority and credited her Inside Safe initiative after an annual count showed a decline in the number of people living on the street. Yet the scale of the crisis remained visible. The 2025 count recorded about 44,000 people experiencing homelessness in the city, including roughly 27,000 living without shelter. In a late-October Berkeley IGS–Los Angeles Times poll, about four in 10 likely voters named reducing encampments as a top priority for the next mayor. About three in 10 said the same about public safety or building more affordable housing.
That left Bass defending incremental gains while Raman could offer a specific target. The challenger said her plans could cut the number of people sleeping in tents and encampments by at least half by 2028, when Los Angeles hosts the Olympics. It was an ambitious pledge on an issue the region has struggled to address despite billions in spending. It also gave voters a concrete benchmark for judging the next administration.
Raman made the race a choice about City Hall
Bass had endorsements from Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She argued that Raman lacked the experience to lead the nation’s second-largest city and criticized her positions on policing and homelessness. Raman, an urban planner who first won a City Council seat in 2020, used her local government experience to make the case that she could take on those problems herself. When Bass conceded Thursday, the count was still underway, with Raman ahead about 52% to 48%, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Bass, the first woman elected mayor of Los Angeles, leaves office after a close contest. The Palisades Fire damaged her standing, and the persistence of encampments and high housing costs made it harder to persuade voters that another term would bring the changes they wanted. Raman now inherits the same problems and a deadline of her own making. By 2028, Angelenos will be able to measure her promise against what they see on their streets.
