Nithya Raman Ousts Karen Bass, Puts DSA in Charge of LA

Los Angeles voters have ousted incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in favor of City Councilmember Nithya Raman, a Democratic Socialists of America member, in a historic upset that ends more than two decades without an incumbent mayor losing reelection. With roughly 76% of votes counted Thursday, Raman led with about 52% to Bass’s 48%, prompting Bass to concede.

Raman becomes “the city’s first South Asian mayor” and the second woman in the role. Her win pairs Los Angeles with New York City, now led by DSA-aligned Mayor Zohran Mamdani, as two of America’s largest cities under candidates backed by the socialist group and their fellow Democratic comrades.  In deep-blue metros, the supposed remedy for progressive failure is simply more of the status quo she campaigned against.

Raman, 45, an urban planner who previously founded the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition and chaired the council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, entered the race at the last minute after initially endorsing Bass. She framed the campaign as a rejection of “establishment politics” and the “broken status quo.” Voters apparently agreed the status quo was broken; whether her version of the fix is any better remains an open and expensive rhetorical question.

In a video statement, Raman said: “Los Angeles, I’m deeply honored to be your next mayor. Thank you to the thousands of people who knocked on doors, sent texts, made phone calls, convinced their neighbors to believe in the promise of this big, beautiful, joyful city that we get to call home.” She also paid tribute to Bass for her decades of service. On election night she told supporters: “We have had enough of establishment politics. This campaign has made it clear that the days of our broken status quo are over.”

Bass, in her concession, stated: “While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken. I have called Councilmember Nithya Raman to congratulate her on her victory, and I have committed to ensuring a smooth and seamless transition. Moving this city forward is what Los Angeles needs from all of us.”

Reality television personality and former primary candidate Spencer Pratt, who lost his home in the Palisades fire and ran on criticism of City Hall’s handling of homelessness, crime, and wildfires, reacted sharply on X. “Nithya didn’t win. Karen lost. You simply can’t destroy a city as much as she did. She played with fire, and she got fired. Nithya won’t offer any reprieve, though. She’s a moron, and the city will continue to decline. The real loser today is LA, but we were gonna tank with either candidate,” Pratt wrote. He called the outcome a “humiliation ritual,” particularly for Palisades residents, and described Raman as “pillow soft” and prone to waffling under pressure from more radical DSA allies on the council who supported Bass.

Not subtle, but not exactly inaccurate based on the council’s record.

Raman’s victory advances the DSA-LA’s “Shake Up LA” slate and its detailed program for the city. As the California Globe reported earlier this year, the group’s roughly 9,000-word Democratic Socialist Program for Los Angeles outlines a six-to-eight-year roadmap that includes creative use of eminent domain to convert private housing to public or social housing, vacancy taxes, universal rent control, expropriation of golf courses, replacement of armed police with unarmed responders for many calls, shuttering Men’s Central Jail without a clear replacement, city-owned enterprises in sectors like groceries and internet, noncitizen local voting rights, and aggressive decarbonization targets.

Raman, a longtime DSA member and the first DSA-backed official elected to the council, has supported renter protections, zoning changes to speed housing, and greater oversight of homelessness spending, though she has at times distanced herself from the group’s more radical positions, including on Israel-related issues that nearly cost her the local endorsement.

Raman’s record on homelessness defined much of the race. Street homelessness in the city rose 7.9% and overall homelessness 3.4% in the latest count, reversing prior modest declines, even as the city spends roughly $1 billion annually on related programs, the Globe reported. Bass’s Inside Safe motel program has seen high return-to-street rates (around 41% in one analysis).

Raman was removed as chair of the Housing and Homelessness Committee in a near-unanimous council vote, with colleagues citing canceled meetings, unscheduled motions, and lack of urgency; she called it political retaliation for challenging Bass. A signature voucher-style effort she advanced spent or committed tens of millions (figures cited around $60 million) while housing only a handful of households in its early phase. A multi-million-dollar state Encampment Resolution Fund grant she secured for LA River encampments remained largely unspent for an extended period amid contracting delays. She has also voted against numerous anti-camping restrictions near schools, parks, and other sensitive sites.

Billions spent, streets lined with tents, and the person who chaired the relevant committee is now in charge of the whole city. What could go wrong?

Well, Raman has publicly called for replacing LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, criticizing the department’s handling of immigration enforcement operations and saying he has “not met the moment.” She has not set a firm timeline, noting it requires action by the Police Commission and potentially the council, and has declined to commit to doing so before the 2028 Olympics. Pratt didn’t decline to comment, weighing in on X that should would likely pick Hassan Piker.

If Nithya Raman were smart, she would hire Sheriff Villanueva to be LAPD Chief.

But she’s not smart, so she’ll probably make Hamas Piker police chief, instead.

— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) November 5, 2026

A campaign-related video that included the phrase “only you can stop fascist liars” (which her team said referred to ICE and the Trump administration, not McDonnell or Bass) and imagery of a red X over the chief’s face drew sharp criticism from the police union and Bass’s campaign before being removed. In 2024, Raman voted to confirm McDonnell. So, the short gap between voting to confirm someone and campaigning to fire them is, apparently, just another day in “progressive” City Hall. The race between the incumbents also featured attacks over wildfire response, housing costs, and public safety,

Raman’s term begins in December and a special election will fill her council seat. With DSA-aligned candidates now leading America’s two largest cities, the next four years will test whether the DSA’s  program that propelled Raman can deliver measurable reductions in homelessness, improved public safety, and functional city services and infrastructure, or whether the same pattern—rising street homelessness, encampment and neighborhood fires, and taxpayer money burned on crack pipes and needles while street dogs are tortured and set ablaze—will simply continue under a new face with the same badge.

History, budgets, and the current smoky hellscape suggest the latter is the safer bet.

Black smoke arises from Skid Row: a new Mayor has been chosen! pic.twitter.com/7gTerrZ81J

— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) November 5, 2026