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Nithya Raman defeated incumbent Karen Bass to become the next mayor of Los Angeles after county officials reported that she had secured 52.1 percent of the vote to Bass’s 47.9 percent with more than three-quarters of ballots counted. The lead, which grew to more than 34,000 votes by Thursday morning, proved insurmountable as mail-in and Election Day ballots from progressive strongholds continued to favor the challenger. Bass conceded the contest on November 5, telling supporters that the people of Los Angeles had spoken and committing to a smooth transition while praising the city she had served for decades. This outcome marks the first time an incumbent Los Angeles mayor has lost re-election in more than two decades.[[1]](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-11-05/nithya-raman-defeats-bass-to-become-next-la-mayor)
Raman, who was born in Kerala, India, and moved to the United States at age six, holds degrees from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she studied urban planning. She worked on sanitation projects in Chennai before relocating to Los Angeles in 2013, eventually founding a nonprofit focused on homelessness outreach. First elected to the City Council in 2020 as a Democratic Socialists of America candidate, she became the first person in nearly 20 years to unseat a sitting council member, according to a profile by The Guardian. Her background as an immigrant and planner shaped a platform centered on accelerating housing construction at all income levels and addressing quality-of-life issues across the city.[[2]](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/nov/05/who-is-nithya-raman-los-angeles-mayor)
The newly elected mayor built her campaign around criticism of the establishment and a pledge to triple annual housing production while expanding support for renters and tackling homelessness more aggressively than citywide efforts had achieved. In her own council district, homelessness fell by 49 percent during her tenure even as some citywide figures showed an uptick, data cited by the Los Angeles Times during the race. Raman drew support from younger voters and a coalition similar to the one that propelled Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani to New York City’s mayoral victory the previous year, Politico reported. She told supporters on election night that the campaign had shown the days of the broken status quo were over.[[3]](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/11/05/nithya-raman-wins-la-mayoral-race-in-victory-for-progressives-01150843)
Bass, who became the city’s first Black woman mayor in 2022, highlighted achievements that included a 17.5 percent reduction in street homelessness over two years, record permanent housing placements and a drop in homicides to their lowest level since 1966, according to her campaign’s summary of accomplishments. Her administration also reversed LAPD staffing declines and eliminated coal-generated electricity as part of a clean-energy push. Yet she faced sustained criticism over the city’s response to the 2025 Palisades Fire that killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of structures while she was out of the country, as well as concerns about projected costs for the 2028 Olympics and a recent rise in unsheltered homelessness in some areas, the Los Angeles Times found.[[4]](https://www.karenbass.com/accomplishments)
Late-arriving ballots widened Raman’s advantage after early returns on election night had briefly shown Bass in the lead, a pattern consistent with progressive voters tending to cast ballots closer to or on Election Day. With more than 700,000 ballots still uncounted countywide at one point, the trajectory made a Bass comeback mathematically impossible, according to analysts cited by multiple outlets including KTLA and FOX 11. Raman, 45, had advanced from a crowded primary alongside Bass after finishing second in the initial round, building momentum on grassroots organizing that echoed her 2020 council victory. The race drew national attention as a test of how far left voters in the nation’s second-largest city were willing to shift.[[5]](https://www.foxla.com/news/election-results-la-mayor-race)
Raman’s victory advances the profile of Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates in major American cities and makes her the first person of South Asian descent to lead Los Angeles. She promised in a video statement released after the concession to earn the trust of those who did not support her while paying tribute to Bass’s decades of public service. Bass, 73, responded in her own statement that she had called Raman to congratulate her and that moving the city forward required collective effort from all residents. The outcome sends a signal about voter appetite for change amid ongoing challenges with housing affordability, public safety and infrastructure, according to assessments in The Washington Post and local reporting.[[6]](https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/results/2026/11/03/los-angeles-mayor-live-updates/)
