Raman leads Bass in LA mayor race count
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman moved ahead of Mayor Karen Bass by about 16,000 votes with 63% counted.
The race is not called; more ballots are due before final results.
Background
Karen Bass, Los Angeles' mayor since 2022 and a former congresswoman and California Assembly speaker, is seeking re-election as a historically unpopular incumbent, largely over her response to the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. Nithya Raman, a City Councilmember since 2020 and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, campaigned to Bass' left on homelessness, public safety and affordability. Raman entered the race in February, shocking the city and setting up a heated contest between one-time allies — Raman had endorsed Bass before running, a move Bass has characterized as a personal betrayal.
How it unfolded
- Jun 2, 2026In the June primary, Bass led with 34.68%, Raman 27.12% and Spencer Pratt 26.69%; Raman overtook Pratt on day six of the count to reach the runoff.
- Sep 23, 2026A Berkeley IGS/LA Times poll showed Raman leading Bass 39% to 28% among 2,100 likely voters, with one-third undecided.
- Oct 28, 2026A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times showed the candidates tied at 40%, with 19% undecided.
- Nov 3, 2026 20:17The first batch of results, vote-by-mail ballots received before Election Day, showed Bass leading nearly 51% to Raman's 49%.
- Nov 3, 2026 21:00Bass had 289,671 votes, about 10,000 more than Raman's 279,068.
- Nov 4, 2026 00:00With about 610,000 votes counted, Bass led by a little more than a tenth of a percent just after midnight.
- Nov 4, 2026 02:00Raman moved ahead of Bass by 4,000 votes.
- Nov 4, 2026 02:05Results showed Raman with 354,214 votes (50.55%) to Bass's 346,513 (49.45%), with about 59% of expected votes counted.
- Nov 4, 2026 03:00Raman led by about 15,000 votes, with 51% to Bass's 49%.
- Nov 4, 2026Raman took a 16,000-vote lead after 63% of the votes were counted, with more than 700,000 ballots counted; NBC News Decision Desk figures showed Raman at 51.1% (377,458) and Bass at 48.9% (360,864).
- Nov 4, 2026The next official updates were scheduled for 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Wednesday, per the LA County Registrar's office; final results are expected Nov. 27.
Who’s saying what
- Raman
- Raman said residents watched "friend after friend, family after family, leave because they couldn't afford to stay here anymore," calling it the cynicism that started to take over the city.
- Bass
- Bass said there is a chance to build a Los Angeles where working families can afford to live, adding that she loves the city and will always fight for it.
Still unverified
Results are early and not final; with a narrow margin and days of counting ahead, it is too early to call the race, and ABC News has not projected a winner.