Raman Opens Lead Over Bass as L.A. Mayor Vote Count Continues

City Councilwoman Nithya Raman widened her lead over Mayor Karen Bass in the Los Angeles mayoral race on Wednesday.

The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk released figures showing Raman with 377,458 votes. That total represents 51.12% of the count. Bass trailed with 360,864 votes, or 48.88%. Ballot counting is expected to continue through November and potentially into the following weeks.

Polling data from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, released last week, showed the candidates tied at 40% support among likely voters. A separate 19% of voters remained undecided at the time of that survey. The institute’s September poll had Raman leading by 11 percentage points. That earlier margin had narrowed considerably by the time of the latest release.

Bass spoke to supporters in Hollywood on Tuesday night. She described the election as a continuation of her work on wildfire recovery, immigration policy, and homelessness. Bass stated, “Four years ago, you gave me the honor of a lifetime to serve as the mayor of the city that raised me.” She added, “And every single day, I have carried that responsibility with me.”

Raman held a campaign event at Griffith Park. She told the crowd that voters wanted to replace a broken status quo. Raman said, “They are angry about a broken status quo and the politicians who failed them over and over again.” She also noted, “Our City Hall became a place where we became so used to saying `no,’ we forgot how to say `yes’.”

The campaign saw attacks on both candidates in the final weeks. Bass and independent political action committees criticized Raman’s call to remove LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell. They also questioned Raman’s experience in managing the city’s budget. Raman drew scrutiny after sharing a video with a leftist influencer. The clip urged people to “stop fascist liars” while displaying photos of Bass and McDonnell. Raman later apologized for comments linking the LAPD under former Chief Daryl Gates to a “gold standard.”

Bass is seeking a second term as mayor of the nation's second-largest city. Raman is running on a platform to fix what she calls a broken city. Both candidates targeted undecided voters in the days leading up to the election.