Karen Bass Loses Her First Election, to a Candidate Who Decided to Run the Night Before the Deadline

LOS ANGELES — Mayor Karen Bass conceded Thursday. It was the first time she had needed to. Bass had never lost an election for public office, in Los Angeles, Sacramento or Washington.

She lost this one to Nithya Raman. Raman is a City Council member who decided to run the night before the filing deadline. She filed in the final hours. Bass had been mayor for four years.

The Associated Press projected Raman the winner shortly before noon Thursday. NBC News and CBS News projected the same. Raman led 429,450 votes to 394,796, or 52.1 percent to 47.9 percent, with 76 percent of the expected vote counted.

The overnight decision

Raman and Bass were once allies. Raman’s late entry in February infuriated elected Democrats in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported. Elected Democrats prefer to hear about these things over lunch, with several months’ notice.

Bass spent the fall telling voters her challenger was not “ready for prime-time.” Prime time, it turned out, was Thursday.

“Some people sleep on a big decision,” said Deep Throat Lozenge, this bureau’s most trusted source. “She slept on it once and filed. The mayor had a career. The councilwoman had a weeknight.”

History, as cited

Bass is the first Los Angeles mayor to lose a reelection bid since Jim Hahn lost to Antonio Villaraigosa in 2005. Raman has some practice. In 2020 she unseated Councilmember David Ryu. Her record against incumbents is now two and zero.

The June primary gave Bass the lead. She finished first with 34 percent. Raman had 29 percent. Spencer Pratt, the former reality television star, had 25.5 percent. The last Berkeley IGS and Los Angeles Times poll had Bass and Raman tied at 40 percent, with 19 percent undecided. The undecided decided.

In Washington, President Trump was asked about wins by candidates on the Democratic Party’s left flank. “If you go by history, it’s going to be a disaster,” he said. This bureau has gone by history for eleven administrations. History mostly records which incumbent felt safe.

What comes with the keys

Raman will be sworn in in December. Her first year brings the Super Bowl. Her second brings the 2028 Summer Olympics. Most new mayors start with a pothole. Raman starts with a pothole and the world.

At her election night party on the Greek Theatre plaza, Raman said city government “has made solving problems look impossible for so long” that residents began to believe it. Then she danced to Michael Jackson’s “Remember the Time.” Bass will.

Her statement Thursday was gracious. “While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken,” she wrote. She said she had called Raman and committed to “a smooth and seamless transition.”

Bass spent a career learning how to win. Raman spent one evening deciding to try.