Nithya Raman is projected to become Los Angeles’ next mayor after defeating incumbent Karen Bass in the November 3 general election. CBS News projected Raman as the winner, and preliminary county results show her with 405,193 votes, or 51.67%, compared with Bass’s 379,069 votes, or 48.33%.
The Los Angeles County results remain preliminary and are subject to change as ballots are processed. The county says the results will not be official until the count is certified. Its live results page lists the municipal general election and the current totals.
Raman, a member of the Los Angeles City Council, entered the mayoral race in February after previously endorsing Bass’s reelection campaign. In the June primary, Bass finished ahead of Raman, while Raman advanced past third-place candidate Spencer Pratt to face the incumbent in the general election.
A poll released shortly before Election Day by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and the Los Angeles Times had the two candidates tied at 40% among likely voters. The survey also found that 45% of voters who had supported Pratt in the primary remained undecided.
Raman’s record on the City Council
Before joining the council in 2020, Raman co-chaired the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council Homelessness Committee and co-founded a nonprofit focused on homelessness advocacy. In 2025, she introduced a motion to cap maximum annual rent increases for tenants in rent-stabilized apartments built before 1978. The motion passed the council 13-2.
Raman has said she hopes to pursue similar work to support small businesses. Bass, Los Angeles’ 43rd mayor, previously served in Congress for 12 years and in the California Assembly, where she became the first Black woman to serve as speaker of a state legislative body.
CBS News projected Raman’s victory. The county’s preliminary count supports that projection, though certification is still pending.