Nithya Raman, a Los Angeles city councilmember born in Kerala, India, has won the race for mayor of Los Angeles, and incumbent Mayor Karen Bass has conceded, ABC7 Los Angeles and MyNewsLA reported. The Associated Press called the race for Raman shortly before noon on Thursday, two days after the 3 November election.
The count
ABC7's Thursday-morning figure showed Raman with 429,450 votes (52.1%) and Bass with 394,796 (47.9%). By Thursday afternoon, county figures reported by MyNewsLA put it at 460,772 (52.70%) to 413,519 (47.30%), a lead of 47,253 votes. More than 700,000 ballots countywide were still uncounted on Thursday morning, MyNewsLA said, and late ballots have tended to favour Raman. The figures are unofficial.
Bass led on election night, but Raman moved ahead as later ballots were counted, MyNewsLA reported.
What the two said
Bass said: "While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken," and pledged a smooth transition, MyNewsLA reported. She called Raman to congratulate her. Bass was elected in 2022 as the city's first Black woman mayor.
Raman said she was "deeply honored to be your next mayor," and promised to earn the trust of Bass's supporters and non-voters by working at City Hall daily, according to MyNewsLA. She named homelessness, housing costs, public safety and economic development as her main priorities, ABC7 said.
A historic result
- Raman is the first challenger to unseat a Los Angeles mayor since 2005, MyNewsLA reported.
- She is a Democratic Socialist. ABC7 said she joins other democratic socialists leading big US cities, including New York's Zohran Mamdani.
- ABC7 described her as the first Asian American mayor of Los Angeles, if she takes office, and said she is expected to take office in mid-December.
Police and the campaign
The campaign's late attacks focused on public safety and her call to remove LAPD chief Jim McDonnell, MyNewsLA reported. Raman has since said she spoke with McDonnell and will keep talking with him, ABC7 said; McDonnell congratulated her and said he looks forward to working with her. The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which had spent millions opposing her, said it accepts the result. Businessman Rick Caruso wished her success while saying he still has concerns.
BDT will update this story when the count is final.
How we verified this
VerifiedThe result, the Associated Press call before noon on Thursday 5 November, Bass’s concession and Raman’s priorities are reported by both ABC7 and MyNewsLA. Vote counts are unofficial and rising: 429,450 to 394,796 in ABC7’s Thursday-morning figure, and 460,772 (52.70%) to 413,519 (47.30%) in MyNewsLA’s Thursday-afternoon figure from the county registrar. Over 700,000 county ballots were still being counted, so the margin may change. ABC7 says she takes office in mid-December and calls her the first Asian American mayor; MyNewsLA gives no transition date. Other outlets in search results (Axios, Variety, Washington Post) report the same result but were not opened.
