Raman overtakes Bass in Los Angeles mayor race as count continues
The gist
L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman led incumbent Mayor Karen Bass by about 24,000 votes Wednesday afternoon.
The race is still too close to call, with 800,000 mail-in ballots left.
How it unfolded
- Nov 3, 2026Polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday; at 9 p.m. Bass had 289,671 votes, about 10,000 more than Raman's 279,068. Raman appeared before a crowd at the Greek Theatre Plaza in Griffith Park, and Bass addressed supporters at her election night party in Hollywood.
- Nov 4, 2026By 2 a.m. Wednesday Raman moved ahead of Bass by 4,000 votes; as of 3 a.m. she led 51% to 49% with 62.7% of the expected vote in.
- Nov 4, 2026By Wednesday morning Raman led by 16,000 votes after 63% of votes were counted, with more than 700,000 ballots counted.
Key terms
- mail-in ballots
- Voting in which ballot papers are sent to voters by post and returned by mail instead of voting in person.
- incumbent
- The current holder of an office or position, especially the person holding the seat up for election.
- Democratic socialist
- A supporter of left-wing politics combining political democracy with a socially owned, democratically run economy.
Source: Wikipedia