Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman will be the city’s next mayor after defeating incumbent Karen Bass, CBS News projected on Thursday.
The backstory: Raman announced a surprise bid in February after previously endorsing Bass for reelection, called her own campaign a long shot, and then finished ahead of third-place candidate Spencer Pratt in the June primary.
- A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and Los Angeles Times poll released shortly before the election had Bass and Raman tied at 40% among likely voters.
Between the lines: The last challenger to unseat a sitting Los Angeles mayor was Antonio Villaraigosa, who beat James Hahn in 2005.
What they're saying: "My goal is to earn your trust," Raman told supporters in the Fairfax District. "My goal is to make sure that we’re doing the work to actually have a City Hall that is capable of delivering on the promises that I made during the campaign."
The other side: Bass conceded on Thursday morning, saying she had called to congratulate Raman and had committed to "a smooth and seamless transition."
Zoom in: Raman cofounded a homelessness nonprofit before winning a council seat in 2020, and in 2025 she authored a motion capping annual rent increases in rent-stabilized apartments built before 1978, which passed 13 to 2.
Why it matters: Los Angeles is the second largest city in the country, and its next mayor arrives with a record of capping rents and a campaign built on distrust of City Hall.
