LA mayor results remain close Wednesday as Raman takes lead over Bass

The race for Los Angeles mayor shifted overnight, with challenger Nithya Raman overtaking Mayor Karen Bass as election officials continued counting ballots from Tuesday’s election.

Raman trailed after the first results were released but steadily gained ground as officials processed additional ballots. Her move into the lead marks a significant turn in the closely watched contest, though the race remains unsettled with votes still outstanding.

At her election night gathering, Raman struck a confident tone even before the overnight shift. When someone in the crowd shouted, “You’re going to win,” supporters erupted into cheers and chants of her name.

With ballot counting expected to continue for days or even weeks, the race could remain undecided well into November. Bass took an early lead Tuesday, but the narrow margin leaves the outcome uncertain. Raman could gain ground as later ballots are counted, particularly if they include more votes from younger voters who make up a key part of her base.

In a speech to supporters late Tuesday night, Bass reflected on the responsibility of leading the city where she grew up and has spent much of her life working and advocating.

"I have seen communities come together to stand up for one another, and I have seen people refuse to give up on the city, even when challenges before us seemed overwhelming," Bass said. "That is the Los Angeles I know. That is the city that I love, and this is the Los Angeles that I will never stop fighting for."

Here’s one thing Raman knows while Los Angeles waits for results to come in.

“You’re going to win,” someone shouted, prompting the crowd at the Greek Theatre to burst into cheers and chant her name.

“Look around. We have had enough of establishment politics,” Raman continued. “This campaign has made it clear that the days of our broken status quo are over.”

She described Los Angeles as a city “engineered” over the last few decades to resist change.

“For too long, our broken and unjust status quo has convinced Angelenos that this is the best that we can do," she said.

She said Los Angeles City Hall became a place so used to saying no that “we forgot how to say yes.”

“The result: LA stopped being a place where we could build things, where we could open things, where we could film things, where we could create things,” she said.

Bass vs. Raman: How the race for LA mayor played out

The Bass vs. Raman matchup emerged in February, when the city councilmember joined the race just before a key deadline to run for mayor. A month prior, former reality TV star Spencer Pratt announced his candidacy. A vocal critic of Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom, Pratt built a sizable following and, by the end of his run, attracted President Donald Trump's attention.

Other possible contenders also made their decisions during this time. Billionaire businessman Rick Caruso, defeated by Bass in 2022, decided not to pursue elected office; former Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner withdrew from the race after his daughter's death; and Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said she wouldn’t run.

Enter Raman, who ousted an incumbent in her successful bid for city council in 2020.

Bass, elected mayor of the sprawling city in 2022, has a long career as a public official, previously serving in the California State Legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives.

Early in her tenure as mayor, Bass signed an executive directive on affordable housing and temporary housing. She also launched her Inside Safe program, intended to move people off the streets and from encampments into housing — although it’s effectiveness is something Raman has repeatedly scrutinized, and it comes as the estimated number of people who are homeless in Los Angeles increased by 3.4% after two years of declines, according to the 2026 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count.

Throughout her campaign, Bass found herself having to rehash the city’s response to the deadly Palisades Fire, and apologize for being out of the country when the fire broke out. Meanwhile, Raman has faced questions about her ties to the Democratic Socialists of America — the Los Angeles chapter, which called her a member, began backing her candidacy in September, although she and DSA-LA haven’t always been on the same side.

While Bass and Raman agree on some issues—cutting red tape to expedite housing construction and continuing crisis-response programs that don’t require police response—they’ve also sparred over budget decisions and the Los Angeles Police Department.

Raman has previously criticized Chief Jim McDonnell, arguing that the LAPD under his leadership appeared to prioritize protecting ICE over local residents, and said she plans on working “toward” his removal. Bass said her opponent has no idea “what it takes to identify a police chief” and pointed to the upcoming 2028 LA Olympics, a “major national security event.”

But as Raman recently posed to Angelenos, quoting President Ronald Reagan: Are you better off today than you were four years ago?

When asked about the lack of endorsements Raman has received from her colleagues — a fact that’s been slung at her in the race — the progressive candidate has said many of her fellow councilmembers endorsed Bass before her eleventh-hour entrance.

Raman, for her part, has earned endorsements from progressive organizations; unions such as Unite Here Local 11 and the Writers Guild of America West; and City Controller Kenneth Mejia and Supervisor Horvath. During the primary, Bass earned endorsements from Newsom and many other elected officials. Major unions have also backed Bass, as have several celebrities, like Jane Fonda and Samuel L. Jackson.

Election results timing: Who won LA mayor?

Votes cast before Election Day make up the first and second batches of results after polls close, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Ballot processing will continue in the days after Election Day, with updates twice a day Nov. 4-6, then once a day from Nov. 7 onward.

The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk is scheduled to certify election results on Nov. 27.

(This story was updated to add new information.)

Paris Barraza is a reporter covering Los Angeles and Southern California for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at[email protected].