LOS ANGELES (AP) — City council member Nithya Raman has secured her place in November’s mayoral runoff against incumbent Karen Bass, creating an unforeseen contest between two former political allies who are both Democrats vying to lead the nation’s second-largest city with nearly 4 million residents.
The results eliminate Spencer Pratt, a Republican and former reality TV star from “The Hills,” from contention. While his celebrity status and willingness to challenge liberal policies in the heavily Democratic city attracted national media coverage, that attention failed to generate sufficient votes to reach the runoff.
Raman entered the mayoral contest at the last moment, despite having previously endorsed Bass for another term. With backing from the Democratic Socialists of America during her council election, the race will determine if voters in this overwhelmingly Democratic metropolis are ready to embrace more progressive solutions to persistent challenges including homelessness, deteriorating infrastructure, and rising housing costs.
The contest carries significant historical implications. Bass holds the distinction of being the first Black woman to serve as mayor, while Raman could become the first South Asian woman to hold the office.
Bass campaign strategist Douglas Herman released a statement saying, “A campaign against Nithya Raman, who allows encampments near schools and cuts the police force, is one Mayor Bass looks forward to winning.”
Though officially nonpartisan, with no party labels appearing beside candidates’ names on ballots, the mayoral contest revealed Bass’s political vulnerability as incomplete results showed her receiving less than 35% of votes — a weak showing for a sitting mayor.
Raman trailed in third place until Sunday but steadily gained ground with each vote tally update released by Los Angeles election officials since the June 2 primary.
As the incumbent, Bass embodies the Democratic establishment with endorsements from Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, plus support from powerful labor organizations. Her political resume includes service in the state Legislature and Congress before winning the mayor’s office in 2022, and she was considered as a potential running mate for former President Joe Biden in 2020.
Making her first citywide campaign, Raman has pledged to accelerate housing development, restore entertainment industry employment, and enhance city services in a municipality notorious for unclean streets, traffic congestion, and widespread homeless encampments throughout numerous neighborhoods.
“What we are doing right now is just not working,” Raman says. “LA’s primary strategy for homelessness has been to move encampments from one block to another, from your block to your neighbor’s block and back again. … It’s political theater.”
Determining Bass’s November opponent required nearly a full week due to California’s famously lengthy vote-counting procedures. All eligible voters receive mailed ballots, which are tallied if postmarked by Election Day and delivered to election offices within seven days.
Los Angeles, similar to other California counties, processes and counts mailed ballots approximately in the sequence they arrive, meaning the final submissions are the last to be tallied.
Tuesday evening after voting concluded, Los Angeles published results from early-returned and pre-processed mail ballots plus same-day votes. Those tallies placed Bass ahead with Pratt second and Raman third. Subsequently, the county has been processing and announcing results from later-arriving mail ballots.
Voting data indicates substantial numbers of Democrats retained their mail ballots until the campaign’s closing days before returning them, explaining why Bass and Raman have performed better than Pratt in votes counted since primary day.
Born in India, Raman relocated to the United States during childhood and obtained degrees from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she focused on urban planning studies.
She has resisted efforts to ban homeless individuals from establishing tents within 500 feet (152 meters) of schools and childcare facilities. Nevertheless, she seems to have moderated her opposition to no-camping zones designed to limit encampment expansion and clear streets. Despite voting against dozens of such measures on the council, she later indicated she would not obstruct them as mayor.
Raman’s stance on city policing has also evolved.
She previously advocated for a significantly reduced department and shared “defund the police” messages on social media in 2020. She opposed the mayor’s 2023 police contract, arguing it was too costly for the financially struggling city.
Recently, she stated the Los Angeles Police Department should maintain its current staffing of approximately 8,600 officers, down from roughly 10,000 in 2020. The police union has criticized her in advertisements, dubbing her “Flip Floppin’ Raman.”
In ethnically diverse Los Angeles, successful mayoral candidates must build coalitions across ethnic and geographic lines. To exceed 50% of votes and claim victory, Raman must attract additional supporters.
“I don’t think it’s impossible, but she is going to have to expand beyond her ideological base,” said Democratic consultant Bill Carrick, who views Bass as vulnerable.
“The people who didn’t vote for Nithya weren’t voting against her, they were voting for somebody else. Karen (Bass) had a good number of people who were voting against her,” Carrick added.
Despite their opposing political philosophies, both Raman and Pratt have appealed to voters dissatisfied with the city’s current direction.
Tanika Vickers, employed by a Los Angeles housing nonprofit, described feeling part of a group of working, taxpaying citizens who have been “forgotten.” She expressed frustration with tax dollar allocation, particularly “throwing” additional money toward homelessness without measurable results.
She supported Raman for mayor because she believed Raman was most capable of implementing her proposals and addressing the city’s needs.
“I think that we are all looking for change,” she said.
