Here’s where the LA mayor’s race stands. There is only one quality independent poll showing Raman with an 11 point lead over Karen Bass, with a third of voters undecided. That’s a lot. After three weeks of early voting, only 5% of ballots have been returned. Not a lot. So what are the issues at stake for LA?
Rent, housing, utility costs? They’re all very high. Fixing potholes; homelessness, which increased citywide over the past year; street vendor permits; planting trees — local stuff. This is a local job, but this race has obviously become nationalized, not just because LA will host the 2028 Olympics, but because it’s another chapter in the ongoing battle between traditional Democrats and the newer offshoot, the Democratic Socialists of America, which, again, is not a political party but more of an advocacy group.
And Nithya Raman is a registered Democrat. But bass, also a Democrat, has had a long career in politics. She’s represented LA and the surrounding metro area at the federal, state, and local level and has the backing of the Democratic Party establishment. Nithya Raman is a younger, newer politician and city council member with the backing of younger local leaders and nationally, the Bernie Sanders-founded group Our Revolution.
So this dynamic is very similar to last year’s New York mayoral race. But in LA, the mayor has less power because the council has significant authority. But the mayor can still hire or fire the heads of city departments, including police and fire chiefs. And the mayor proposes the city’s annual budget and obviously enforces city laws.
Now there are no more debates, and the ones that happened honestly didn’t make a ton of news. So it’s going to come down to how the two candidates reach voters in the final two weeks, and whether LA wants to give Bass more time to continue what she’s done in the past four years, or go with somebody else.
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Ben Sheehan is a political commentator and digital creator. He specializes in civics education, which is showcased in his latest book, What Does the Constitution Actually Say?: A Non-Boring Guide to How Our Democracy Is Supposed to Work. Check out his Substack, Politics Made Easy.
