Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman (D) is projected to become the next mayor of Los Angeles after defeating incumbent Mayor Karen Bass (D) in the 2026 mayoral election, according to Decision Desk HQ.
The race was called Wednesday evening, with Raman holding a lead of approximately 26,000 votes, or about 3 percentage points, out of 784,262 votes counted, according to Decision Desk HQ.
Raman and Bass advanced to the November general election after finishing ahead of the other candidates in the June 2 nonpartisan primary. Their victory in the primary ended former reality television personality Spencer Pratt’s campaign.
Raman Challenged Bass After Entering the Race in February
Raman entered the mayoral race in February, positioning herself as an alternative to Bass despite previously being considered an ally of the incumbent mayor.
Her campaign focused on several major issues facing Los Angeles, including the aftermath of the devastating 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires, homelessness, affordable housing, and reform of the Los Angeles Police Department.
She also criticized aspects of the city’s leadership and outlined how she believed the administration could take a different approach to addressing these challenges.
The November election gave voters a choice between Bass’s record as mayor and Raman’s proposed changes to city government.
Who Is Nithya Raman?
Raman was first elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2020, defeating incumbent council member David Ryu.
During her mayoral campaign, she received endorsements from several organizations, including the Sierra Club, Unite Here Local 11, LA Forward, Eastside Padres Contra la Privatización, and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Los Angeles chapter.
Raman is a member of the DSA, although she previously emphasized that her decisions on the City Council were independent of the organization’s positions.
Her projected victory makes her Los Angeles’ first socialist mayor and gives democratic socialists another major political victory following Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor of New York City last year.
A Historic Political Milestone for Los Angeles
Raman’s victory also brings attention to the history of socialist candidates in Los Angeles mayoral elections.
Before the 2026 primary, Raman faced competition from other candidates, including democratic socialist Rev. Rae Huang.
The last Socialist Party candidate to run for mayor of Los Angeles before Raman was lawyer Job Harriman in 1911.
According to the Museum of the New Llano Colony, Harriman lost political support ahead of the election after the bombing of the Los Angeles Times building. The incident was linked to two union members whom Harriman had represented in court.
Raman’s projected win therefore marks a significant moment in the city’s political history, placing a democratic socialist in its highest elected municipal office.
