Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass conceded her reelection bid Thursday, congratulating City Councilmember Nithya Raman on her historic victory and pledging a smooth transition, delivering a major shake-up at City Hall.
“While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken. I have called Councilmember Nithya Raman to congratulate her on her victory, and I have committed to ensuring a smooth and seamless transition,” Bass said in a statement released by her campaign Thursday morning. “Moving this city forward is what Los Angeles needs from all of us.”
Raman, 45, is poised to become the first Indian American mayor of Los Angeles, a first for the nation’s second-largest city.
Her victory represents a significant shift in the city’s political landscape, with the progressive councilmember, backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, unseating an incumbent mayor who had the support of much of Los Angeles’ political establishment. Many blamed Bass’ defeat on her handling of the deadly 2025 Palisades and other controversies that plagued her office.
Raman’s win follows the 2025 election of Zohran Mamdani as New York City mayor, putting two Indian American politicians backed by the Democratic Socialists of America at the helm of the nation’s two largest cities.
Bass conceded after Raman steadily widened her lead over as election officials released another round of ballot results in the closely contested mayoral race.
In a pre-recorded video released Thursday, Raman thanked her supporters and said she was “deeply honored” to become Los Angeles’ next mayor.
“Los Angeles, I’m deeply honored to be your next mayor,” Raman said. Thank you to the thousands of people who knocked on doors, sent texts, made phone calls, convinced their neighbors to believe in the promise of this big, beautiful, joyful city that we get to call home.”
Raman also paid tribute to Bass, praising her decades of public service and her historic election as the city’s first female mayor.
Addressing residents who voted for Bass or did not vote, Raman pledged to work to earn their trust.
“I am going to City Hall to work every single day to earn your trust, and to earn your trust in this city again,” she said. “And that work starts now.”
Not unexpectedly, the Associated Press called the race for Raman at 11:49 a.m.
As of 9:21 a.m. Thursday, Raman had received 429,450 votes, or 52.10%, compared with Bass’ 394,796 votes, or 47.90%, according to the Los Angeles County registrar’s office.
The latest tally put Raman ahead by 34,654 votes, up from her 26,124 vote advantage Wednesday afternoon, when she had already expanded her lead following election night.
Although Bass has conceded, additional ballots remain to be counted, and the results have not yet been certified.
As of Thursday morning, election officials had counted 2,389,072 ballots countywide, representing 40.44% voter turnout. The latest update included 109,322 additional ballots counted since Wednesday afternoon.
The Associated Press estimated Thursday morning that 76% of the vote had been counted in the mayoral race. The next results update is scheduled for between 4 and 5 p.m. Thursday, according to the registrar’s.
Raman first overtook Bass early Wednesday morning after the incumbent’s early lead steadily narrowed as more ballots were counted.
Bass was ahead by 9,520 votes around 9:25 p.m. Tuesday, a margin that fell to 4,814 votes by 11:24 p.m., and just 834 votes at 12:25 a.m. Raman moved ahead shortly before 1 a.m., and her lead continued to grow in subsequent updates.
By Wednesday afternoon, Raman had widened her advantage to 405,193 votes, or 51.67%, compared with Bass’ 379,069 votes, or 48.33%.
LIVE ELECTION RESULTS: See a chart of the latest vote counts
As the gap between the two candidates widens, Bass faces an increasingly difficult path to reelection.
Former Los Angeles City Councilmember and county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said Wednesday that Bass faced an uphill battle, although he cautioned the race remains unresolved.
“I think the mayor probably has a steeper mountain to climb than Councilwoman Raman,” Yaroslavsky said.
Yaroslavsky said he was surprised by how closely the candidates were matched in the initial results. He had expected Bass to perform better because the first batch of ballots, which he said was disproportionately cast by older voters, was expected to favor the incumbent. Instead, Raman gained ground with each subsequent update, a trend he said could continue as later-cast ballots are counted.
Dan Schnur, a veteran political analyst, who teaches at USC and UC Berkeley, described the race as a reflection of Los Angeles’ generational divide.“I think the biggest, the most important story out of this election, is the city’s immense generational divide,” Schnur said Wednesday.
Schnur said older voters appeared more inclined to support Bass, while younger voters were more likely to favor Raman. He attributed part of Raman’s overnight gains to historical patterns in which younger voters cast ballots later and their votes appear in subsequent counts.
The election became a referendum on Bass’ handling of some of Los Angeles’ most pressing challenges, including homelessness, public safety, housing affordability and basic city services.
The candidates also clashed over the city’s response to the devastating January 2025 Palisades fire, a massive warehouse fire in Boyle Heights over the summer and the Trump administration’s enforcement operations in Los Angeles.
Related Articles
- Hegseth allows National Guard to boost DC patrols with military vehicles, boats and patrol cars
- Trump signs proclamation he says will prevent future changes to the Oval Office and Cabinet Room
- US escalates economic campaign against Cuba and targets China-based suppliers
- Senate Democrats will not let Trump put a ‘right-winger’ on the Supreme Court, Schumer vows
- Democrats’ victory was clear. The party’s future is not
Bass, 73, a former congresswoman and California Assembly speaker who became Los Angeles’ first female mayor in 2022, argued that her administration had made progress on entrenched problems and that the city needed experienced leadership to build on those gains, particularly as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Olympics.
Raman, 45, an urban planner and former nonprofit executive who became the first Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidate elected to the City Council in 2020, argued that the results had fallen short and that City Hall needed fundamental change. Once a political ally of Bass, Raman had won reelection to her council seat in 2024 with the mayor’s support.
Election officials are continuing to process vote-by-mail, provisional and conditional voter registration ballots. Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day can still be counted if they arrive by Nov. 10. The county expects to finalize election results Nov. 27.
Original article
Comments