Councilmember Nithya Raman will be the next mayor of Los Angeles after defeat incumbent Karen Bass in the November general election, CBS News projects.
Raman’s victory follows resounding victories for Democrats across the country on Election Day.
The last time a challenger ousted a sitting Los Angeles mayor occurred in 2005, when Antonio Villaraigosa defeated incumbent James Hahn.
CBS News 
Raman released a video statement Thursday afternoon saying she was deeply honored to be the next mayor of Los Angeles.
“Thank you to the thousands of people who knocked on doors, sent text messages, made phone calls, convinced their neighbors to believe in the promise of this big, beautiful, happy city we call home,” she said in the video.
Raman spoke directly to people who voted for Bass or who didn’t vote at all, saying she “is going to work at City Hall every day to earn your trust and earn your trust in this city again.”
In the video, Raman also paid tribute to Bass, thanking her for her decades of service and highlighting her as the first female mayor of Los Angeles.
“She has served Los Angeles for so many decades and I know that so many people, not just in this city but across the country, are grateful for her dedication to the promise of Los Angeles,” Raman said.
Bass released a statement Thursday morning conceding to Raman, saying she had called to congratulate her on the victory.
“While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken. I called Councilmember Nithya Raman to congratulate her on her victory, and I am committed to ensuring a smooth and seamless transition,” Bass wrote.
Bass thanked his supporters and other leaders who helped him during his campaign. She added that she would continue to “ensure that the promise of a better life belongs to us all”.
After Bass’s concession, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell congratulated Raman and thanked Bass for his tenure.
“As police chief, I remain committed to leading a department that provides professional, constitutional and compassionate policing to all Angelenos,” McDonnell wrote in a statement. “By working together, we can meet the challenges ahead and continue to build a safer Los Angeles for everyone.”
Raman, a democratic socialist, continued her momentum after overtaking Spencer Pratt in the June primary, but suffered a setback with voters a week before the election, according to the UC Berkeley Institute of Government Studies and the Los Angeles Times.
A survey published by the UC Berkeley Institute of Government Studies and the LA Times shortly before the election showed that Bass and Raman tied, with 40% support among likely voters.
Bass and Raman became favorites after the primary election when they edged out the third-place candidate. Spencer Pratt.
Later Thursday, Raman stood among his supporters in the Fairfax district and pledged to restore Angelenos’ “faith in City Hall.”
“My goal is to earn your trust. My goal is to make sure we do the work necessary to have a City Hall that can deliver on the promises I made during the campaign,” she said. “That’s my commitment to every person, whether you voted for me or not, or missed this election altogether. I want to make sure we can restore your trust in City Hall.”
Nithya Raman, board member
Raman announced his surprise mayoral bid in February after previously supporting Bass’s bid for re-election.
During the primary, Raman called his campaign a “long shot” before ultimately overtaking Pratt to face Bass in the general election.
Before being elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2020, Raman served as co-chair of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council’s Committee on Homelessness and co-founded a nonprofit homeless advocacy organization.
One of her most notable acts in office came in 2025, when she introduced a motion capping maximum annual rent increases for tenants in rent-stabilized apartments built before 1978. It ultimately passed by a vote of 13 to 2. She said she hoped to undertake similar work to help small businesses.
“I congratulate Nithya Raman on her victory. The voters have spoken, and now it is time to govern,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger wrote in a statement. “Whether it’s homelessness, public safety, housing affordability or Olympic preparation, we must work together. I remain focused on finding common ground and achieving real results for the people we serve.
Mayor Karen Bass
After serving in public office for more than two decades as a congressman and the 43rd mayor of Los Angeles, Bass said this race would be his last election campaign.
Bass grew up in Los Angeles with his three brothers. She began her professional career as a nurse and physician assistant, where she later founded the Community Coalition to help underserved residents of South Los Angeles combat drug addiction, poverty and crime.
She began her political career in 2004 as a member of the California Assembly, where she became the first black woman to serve as speaker of a state legislative body. She left the Assembly in 2010 to run for Congress, where she served in the House for 12 years.
Before the primary election, Bass received support from notable politicians, including California Governor Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris. Nearly a week before the November election, billionaire Rick Caruso threw his support behind his former rival in the 2022 mayoral race and pledged to vote for her in November.
“For the love of Los Angeles, I must put the past behind me because this election must be about our future,” Caruso said in a message to X. “I will vote for Mayor Karen Bass.”
He also said in the video that he had concerns about Raman that were “not very much about ideology, but about competence.”
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