Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass will compete in a November runoff for her second term after failing to secure an outright majority in the crowded primary race. The two-person matchup that follows will pit her against either Spencer Pratt or Nithya Raman, with the final pairings still settling among a field of more than a dozen candidates.
Bass, who took office in 2022 after defeating real estate developer Rick Caruso, has seen her political standing deteriorate since the start of her term. A March Los Angeles Times survey found 56% of city voters viewed her unfavorably, a sharp reversal from the relative popularity she enjoyed upon entering office.
The mayor's vulnerability stems largely from her absence during last year's catastrophic wildfire season. The fires destroyed over 16,000 structures and left fire departments hampered when water supplies became depleted. Bass faced particular criticism for being out of the country while the crisis unfolded, an absence that became central to challenger messaging.
Pratt, a former MTV star from "The Hills," has emerged as a potent political wildcard in the race. The Republican entrepreneur, who lost his own home in the fires, has conducted an aggressive campaign that accused Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom of "criminal negligence" in their disaster response. His candidacy attracted unusual national attention, fueled partly by AI-generated attack videos and an endorsement signal from President Donald Trump, who said he'd "like to see him do well."
Meanwhile, Raman, a Los Angeles City Council member and Democratic Socialists of America member, has positioned herself to Bass's left on housing and homelessness. A former ally of the mayor, Raman has argued for streamlined permitting to accelerate affordable housing construction and proposed measures to bring back film and television production to the city.
On the campaign trail, Bass has highlighted crime statistics and incremental progress on homelessness to defend her record. She pointed to a 17.5% decline in street homelessness over two consecutive years, noting that nationwide homelessness rose 18% during the same period. She also cited a 60-year low in the city's homicide rate, though acknowledged periodic spikes.
When pressed about Pratt's challenge, Bass acknowledged his appeal to frustrated voters but questioned his grasp of municipal governance. "I think he's tapping into the anger and frustration that people have," she said in a recent interview. "But I don't think he has a clue about how to actually run Los Angeles."
The runoff sets up a test of whether Bass can rebuild her standing among Los Angeles voters or whether her opponents can capitalize on lingering anger over the wildfire response and persistent homelessness challenges.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Bass enters this runoff as frontrunner but hardly as frontrunner material, a dangerous position when voters are this angry."
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