Public safety and homelessness shape the Los Angeles mayoral contest
Los Angeles voters are choosing Tuesday between Mayor Karen Bass and City Council member Nithya Raman, who is backed by the Democratic Socialists of America. Bass, 73, is seeking another term to lead a city of 3.8 million people; Raman, 45, is an urban planner with six years on the council. Bass has argued that she has made enough progress to merit another term and says Raman is “not ready for primetime” after only six years on the council. Raman endorsed Bass before changing her mind and entering the contest. She now says, “we cannot afford another four years of decline, of mismanagement, of excuses.”
The outcome will have implications beyond the city limits as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Olympic Games. A Raman victory would put a democratic socialist in charge of the nation’s second most populous city after Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York last year, while a Bass victory would keep an incumbent in office. The Associated Press characterized the alternatives as whether Los Angeles would follow New York’s lead or keep an establishment figure in charge despite a difficult first term.
Top Democrats are backing Bass, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Nearly every member of the Los Angeles City Council also supports her, including several aligned with the democratic socialists. Bass 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.
Billionaire developer Rick Caruso said he is voting for Bass but stopped short of formally endorsing her, a choice the Associated Press called an important signal to the business community. Caruso and Bass were former adversaries, and Bass defeated him in the 2022 mayoral race.
Raman 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 has received relatively few endorsements from prominent local politicians. Raman held a widely publicized private meeting with former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is not involved in the race; the Associated Press said the meeting hinted at her efforts to broaden her circle.
One unknown is where supporters of former candidate Spencer Pratt will go if they vote at all. Pratt, a Republican and one-time reality personality who lost his home in the Palisades Fire, picked up about one-quarter of the primary vote but did not advance to November.
Public safety is a leading issue in the race. Bass wants to hire more police officers and 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 discussed 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, saying it was too expensive for the financially strapped city. More recently, she said the police department should remain at its current size.
Bass continues to face fallout from the deadly 2025 Palisades Fire, which became the most destructive blaze in city history. The Associated Press reported that Bass was out of the country when it ignited and that the fire department was unprepared despite days of warnings about the potential for powerful winds and bone-dry weather. The Associated Press also reported that this past June, a fire east of downtown in a massive frozen-food warehouse caused weeks of foul smells and frustration.
Los Angeles also struggles with an ongoing homelessness crisis. The Associated Press described homeless encampments as filthy and said rows of rusting recreational vehicles were 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 locations. The Associated Press reported widespread complaints about a lack of basic services, from street paving to streetlight repair.
On homelessness, Bass stresses that the city has cleared dozens of encampments and brought thousands of people into shelter. Data show that nearly half of those people 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. She appears to have softened her opposition to no-camping zones intended to curb the spread of encampments and clear streets. Raman voted against dozens of those zones 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, with the aim of building trust to bring people indoors. Raman also wants to provide more housing so people can move out of hotels rented by the city for homeless residents.
The Associated Press characterized Raman as seeking to “seize on voter anxiety over long-running problems in the city.” A Berkeley IGS/LA Times poll conducted 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. About 3 in 10 said either ensuring public safety or building more affordable housing should be a top priority.
In the sole televised debate, Raman said, “Homelessness is rising despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent. Storefronts are closing.” She said Bass has been “missing in action.”