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Bass ahead in early LA mayor’s race vote count, Raman trailing close behind
Mayor Karen Bass, at left, and challenger Nithya Raman.
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Genaro Molina, Apu Gomes
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images
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More about this race
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass has taken an early lead in her race for reelection after the first ballot drops were counted Tuesday night.
Bass is ahead of her challenger, L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman, 50.86% to 49.14%.
Raman’s last-minute entry into the race shocked the city in February, and sparked a heated showdown between one-time allies.
The question now is whether Bass will hold onto her position as ballots continue to be tallied.
The results are early and not final. With a narrow margin and days of counting ahead, L.A. voters will have to bear the suspense a while longer before knowing who will lead the city for the next four years.
Ballots that are postmarked by Election Day and received within seven days will be counted. The Associated Press estimates 49% of votes have been counted, according to their turnout estimates.
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During the June primary, Raman landed in third place on election night. She gained ground on Bass and overtook reality TV personality Spencer Pratt on day six of the count as votes were tallied after Election Day.
In this race, Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, campaigned to the left of Bass. The race made national headlines, in part due to a growing number of electoral victories across the country by candidates associated with the Democratic Socialists of America — the highest-profile being New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
A group of Nithya Raman supporters at her election party at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on Election Night, Nov. 3, 2026.
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David Wagner
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LAist
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This showdown between the two Democrats comes at a time when the city grapples with a homelessness crisis, skyrocketing housing costs, the aftermath of the Palisades Fire and a paucity of basic city services like pothole repair — all as local officials are trying to get ready to host the Olympic Games in 2028.
Whoever wins will assume a big bully pulpit as leader of a government with a $14 billion budget.
A campaign sign at an election night party for Karen Bass at the Loews Hollywood Hotel, Nov. 3, 2026.
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Aaron Schrank
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LAist
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What’s on the agenda for next term
Palisades Fire recovery efforts
The fire killed 12 people and burned nearly 7,000 structures. Property and capital losses for the Palisades and Eaton fires were between $76 billion and $131 billion, without accounting for insurance or settlement proceeds, according to the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
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The next mayor will need to ensure the city continues to receive federal disaster aid recovery money and that the permitting process goes smoothly as people rebuild their homes.
Ongoing homelessness crisis
Homelessness has been an especially intractable problem. In recent years, the city has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars annually to get people off the streets and into affordable housing.
Yet more than 45,000 people live outdoors or without stable housing in the city of L.A..
Since 2020, the homeless population has increased by nearly 10% in the city, according to the official homeless counts.
Housing
The next mayor will need to decide whether to allow affordable housing projects in neighborhoods zoned for single-family homes. The strategy is important to expanding the affordable housing stock, yet Bass abandoned it after an outcry from so-called NIMBYs (shorthand for "not in my backyard" — those who don’t want development near them).
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The next mayor will also have to decide whether to support delays in the implementation of SB79, the law that allows taller apartment buildings near train lines.
The LAPD
The Los Angeles Police Department has shrunk to fewer than 8,700 officers — down from 10,000 just a few years ago. The next mayor will have to decide whether to pour more resources into increasing the size of the department or support further reductions.
Olympics
The next mayor will preside over preparations for the 2028 Olympic Games, guiding the allocation of city resources to accommodate up to 15 million visitors. One question is whether the city should pay $30 million for 300 new police cars to patrol the Olympics, as has been requested by the Police Department.
The mayor will also have to make sure the city isn't on the hook for any cost overruns by the Olympics.
How to get involved
How to keep tabs on the city of L.A.
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The City Council meets at 10 a.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Agendas are posted here.
You can view council meetings here.
LAist’s Frank Stoltze and Aaron Schrank contributed to this report.
What to keep in mind about these numbers
- For LAist's charts showing vote counts, we get numbers directly from the L.A. County and Orange County registrars of voters for local races. Totals are updated on our site as soon as possible after the registrars provide new tallies. For statewide races, counts come from the California Secretary of State's Office.
- Has your ballot been tallied yet? You can track the status of your ballot here.
- Keep in mind that, in tight races particularly, the winner may not be determined for days or weeks after election day. That's because early voting and mail-in ballots have fundamentally reshaped how votes are counted and when election results are known. The upshot: Ballots can be postmarked up to and including Election Day. They're counted as long as the ballot arrives within seven days of the election and that window contributes to the lag time before results are announced.
- In L.A. County, for example, daily updates on the counting are expected to take place at least once a day — usually around 5 p.m. — through Nov. 13. (There will be multiple updates on Nov. 5 and 6.) Then, the once-a-day counts will resume again on Nov. 17, 19, 25 and 27. The office is scheduled to certify election results by Friday, Nov. 27. In Orange County, There will be multiple updates after the polls close, and then daily updates weekdays at 5 p.m. until results are scheduled to be certified on or before Dec. 3.
- The California Secretary of State is scheduled to certify the election results on Dec. 11.
- Our priority during the vote count will be sharing outcomes and election calls only when they have been thoroughly checked and vetted by journalists. To that end, we will rely on official results and report when candidates concede. Otherwise, we rely on NPR and the Associated Press for race calls. We will not report the calls or projections of other news outlets. You can find more about NPR's and the AP's process for counting votes and calling races here and here.
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