After rough first term, LA Mayor Karen Bass fights for job against DSA-backed Nithya Raman

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles voters are weighing Tuesday whether to stick with Mayor Karen Bass or turn to a city council member who is backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, Nithya Raman.

The outcome will determine if the nation’s second most populous city will follow New York’s lead, where democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor last year, or keep an establishment figure in charge despite a difficult first term.

Bass continues to face fallout from the deadly 2025 Palisades Fire, which became the most destructive blaze in city history. Los Angeles also struggles with an ongoing homelessness crisis — filthy encampments and rows of rusting RVs are a common sight in many neighborhoods. In the city known as the birthplace of the film industry, Hollywood jobs have been fleeing for years for cheaper locales. There are widespread complaints over the lack of basic services, from street paving to streetlight repair.

The choice voters make will have implications beyond the city limits, with Los Angeles preparing to host the 2028 Olympic Games.

The contest turns on change vs. experience

Bass, 73, has argued that she’s made enough progress to merit another term leading a city of 3.8 million people. She says Raman, 45, is “not ready for primetime” after only six years on the council.

Raman endorsed Bass before changing her mind and entering the contest herself. Now, she says, “we cannot afford another four years of decline, of mismanagement, of excuses.”

Bass was out of the country when the Palisades Fire ignited and caught the fire department unprepared despite days of warnings about the potential for powerful winds and bone-dry weather. This past June, a fire east of downtown in a massive frozen-food warehouse caused weeks of foul smells and frustration.

One of the unknowns is where supporters of former candidate Spencer Pratt will turn, if they vote at all. Pratt — a Republican and one-time reality personality who lost his home in the Palisades Fire — picked up about a quarter of the primary vote but did not advance to November.

Public safety and homelessness are top issues

Key issues in the race include public safety.

Bass wants to hire more police officers, and she has branded Raman’s views on policing and homelessness as “extreme.” Raman has said she would replace the police chief, which Bass has said would be reckless in advance of the Olympics.

Raman once talked of a department that would be much smaller and posted “defund the police” on social media in 2020. She did not support the mayor’s 2023 police contract, which she said was too expensive for the financially strapped city. More recently, she said the police department should remain at its current size.

On homelessness, Bass stresses the city has cleared dozens of encampments and brought thousands of people into shelter, but data show nearly half of them dropped out of the system and presumably returned to the streets.

Raman has opposed efforts to prohibit homeless people from setting up tents within 500 feet (152 meters) of schools and daycare centers. However, she appears to have softened her opposition to no-camping zones, which were intended to curb the spread of encampments and clear streets. She voted against dozens of them on the council but later said she would not block them if elected mayor.

If elected, Raman has said she would reduce the number of people sleeping in tents and encampments by at least 50% by 2028. She wants to expand medical teams that would bring care to encampments and others living on the streets, in an effort to build trust with those individuals to bring them indoors. She also wants to provide more housing to move people out of hotels rented by the city for the homeless.

Top Democrats have lined up with Bass

Bass is backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with nearly every member of the city council, including several aligned with the democratic socialists. She served in the state Legislature and Congress before becoming mayor in 2022 and was under consideration to be former President Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020.

In an important signal to the business community, billionaire developer Rick Caruso said he was voting for Bass, but stopped short of formally endorsing her. The two are former adversaries; Bass defeated Caruso in the 2022 mayoral race.

Raman, an urban planner, has picked up notable support from advocacy and political groups, including Our Revolution, which was founded by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and the Sierra Club. She’s thin on endorsements from prominent local politicians. She landed a widely publicized private meeting with former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is not involved in the race, that hinted at her efforts to broaden her circle.

Raman sought to seize on voter anxiety over long-running problems in the city. A Berkeley IGS/LA Times poll conducted from Oct. 19-25 found that about 4 in 10 likely voters said reducing the number of homeless encampments should be a top priority for the next mayor to address, while about 3 in 10 said that about ensuring public safety or building more affordable housing.

“Homelessness is rising despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent. Storefronts are closing,” Raman said in the sole televised debate. Bass, she said, has been “missing in action.”