UPDATE: Nithya Raman will be Los Angeles’ next Mayor.
The latest voter results just released by the L.A. County Register-Recorder/County Clerk show the two-term City Councilmember with a continuing commanding and growing lead over incumbent Karen Bass.
As of right now, with most of the expected vote counted, Raman has 429,450 to Bass’ 394,796. In terms of percentage, that’s a decisive 52.10%to 47.90%. Last night, Raman had 51.67% to Bass’ already shrinking 48.33% of the vote, with over 66% tabulated.
Raman’s vote has been steadily growing, while the current Mayor, who has been pillared over her initial response to the 2025 wildfires, projected L.A. Olympics costs and quality of life issues, has been going down.
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While more vote drops are scheduled for later today and Friday, the present trajectory makes it mathematically impossible for Bass to catch up to her former ally and challenger.
A statement is expected later today from Bass’ campaign, I hear.
What that statement will specifically say is unknown right now, but you can be sure the pragmatic 73-year-old veteran pol knows will be considering her legacy in the Democratic Party with which way the wind is blowing.
Pledging to give the revitalization of film and TV production in the home of Hollywood top priority in her administration, Raman’s win is a shock to the L.A. political establishment, who lined up solidly behind Bass. To that, Raman will surely move quickly to heal divisions that emerged in the party during the campaign. At the same time, as midterm election results across the nation this week made clear, voters want change in what looks to be a generation shift.
On that note, the 45-year-old Raman will not be the youngest Mayor that L.A. has ever had. That distinction goes to Alpheus Hodges. The physican was just 28 when he took over City Hall’s top job in 1851. Serving as L.A.’s coroner at the same time, Hodges led the then city of less that 1,700 for less than a year.
PREVIOUSLY, NOV 4 PM: Less than 24 hours after the polls closed in Los Angeles, Nithya Raman looks poised to be the City of Angels’ next Mayor.
Taking a slight lead early this morning in a race with Karen Bass that has been a statistical tie for the past few weeks, two-term City Council member Raman is now even a little bit further ahead of the incumbent.
Coming off a midterm election with strong turnout, including via mail-in ballots, Raman has 405,193 votes to Bass’ 379, 069. In terms of percentage of votes counted so far, that’s 51.67% for the challenger and 48.33% for the one-term Bass. Overall, around 66% of the expected votes have been counted, county officials state.
Raman’s vote has inched up, while Bass’ has dipped in the latest vote count drop this evening.
If the trend continues, with more vote count over the next few days, it is impossible to see what path to victory Bass could have over Raman. Additional vote drops are planned by the L.A. County Register-Recorder/County Clerk for 9 am PT Thursday and on November 6.
As it is, a final result in this year’s mayoral election looks to be determined far quicker than in 2022. It took almost 10 days for that race to be called for then Congresswoman Bass over developer Rick Caruso.
This time around, Caruso essentially lined up with his old rival Bass, as did most of the establishment in Democratic-dominated L.A. Now, it looks like they bet on the wrong candidate.
While both Bass and Raman have pledged to help revitalize film and TV production in L.A. after several harsh years of decline, the District 4 Councilmember says she will prioritize the issue in a way the incumbent has not. Raman promises to have a Film Czar on staff and in the Mayor’s office in her opening mayoral days. Raman has repeatedly stressed she has direct knowledge of the industry not only as a local politician representing a swath of Hollywood, but due to the fact she is married to 30 Rock producer and writer Vali Chandrasekaran.
PREVIOUSLY, 4 AM PT: After a campaign that got more personal at times than a Bravo reality series, no one has been elected mayor of Los Angeles yet.
In a Democrat-vs.-Democrat race that saw old allies Councilmember Nithya Raman and incumbent Karen Bass face off for many of the same constituents, the results so far reflect the dead heat the candidates had been in for the past two weeks.
By 4 a.m. PT on Wednesday, Raman had taken a narrow lead over Bass, 51.1% vs. 48.9%, with 738,322 votes (62.7%) counted.
The margin is so close that it will likely be a few days at least before a final count is recorded. Also, with about two-thirds of the expected vote now accounted for, Raman could see a surge once the day-of votes start coming in as her core base of younger Angelenos tend to go to the polls on Election Day.
As of 10:48 p.m. PT Tuesday, with nearly 500,000 votes counted, Bass had 50.7% of the tallied votes and Raman 49.3%.
On Tuesday night, as Democrats across the state and the nation were swept into power on a so-called blue tsunami, KTLA anchors called the bid for the City of Angels’ top job “a wild ride.” Certainly from two-term District 4 representative Raman jumping into the mayoral fray at the last minute, and the incendiary primary campaign of The Hills alum / ex-Palisades resident / Donald Trump fan Spencer Pratt, this year’s mayor’s race has been remarkable. Add to that, the whims of mall builder and 2022 candidate Rick Caruso, Hollywood mergers and the decline of film and TV production and the endorsements of the Democratic elite, and the whole thing has been crazed — even by L.A. political standards.
Declaring herself “confident” of victory when all is said and counted, Bass had a watching event in Hollywood on Tuesday. Raman gathered with supporters at the Greek Theatre in Griffith Park as they awaited results. From a big Bass lead around the June primary to a double-digit lead by Raman a month ago, both candidates were fighting for Pratt voters to gain the electoral edge.
Tonight, Pratt mocked Bass and Raman for being “neck and neck” with an extra swipe at the incumbent for finding herself in such a tight position. “Man, now we won’t have a clear winner for like 3 weeks LOL”
Both Bass and Raman, the latter of whom is married to a TV writer-producer, have promised to improve conditions to make it easier and more affordable to film in L.A.. For all her history around the state’s film and TV tax incentives, the incumbent has been criticized for only truly turning the power of her office to stemming the sharp decline in production and industry jobs in the City of Angels as her re-election loomed. Raman has been accused of missing vital City Council votes on the issue.
This summer, as the antitrust lawsuit from state Attorney General’s office against Paramount’s $111 billion purchase of Warner Bros Discovery picked up steam, Bass joined Gov. Gavin Newsom and exhibitors in pushing AG Rob Bonta to strike a deal with David Ellison as the CEO was whispered to be threatening to leave California. The WGA-endorsed Raman was always opposed to the ParaBros deal, but once Ellison achieved his corporate dream with the sign-off by a federal judge, Raman used a Hollywood confab on October 1 to publicly offer a hand to the Oracle scion to work together.
Along with Pratt, both Bass and Raman back a bipartisan federal film and TV tax credit. With the Democrats’ big wins tonight, whether passing that program is a top priority or not remains to be seen.