Bass leads crowded Los Angeles mayor race, runoff likely
Bass led early with 38.07% while Pratt and Raman split the rest, setting up a runoff and a fight over homelessness, safety and affordability.
Karen Bass took an early lead in Los Angeles’s crowded mayoral race Tuesday night, but the first returns pointed toward a November runoff that will test whether the city is still behind her agenda on homelessness, public safety and recovery. With 38.07% of the vote, Bass was ahead of Spencer Pratt at 27.95% and Nithya Raman at 20.06%, while Adam Miller trailed at 4.69%.
The numbers showed a fragmented electorate in a nonpartisan race that drew 14 candidates and left Bass short of the majority she would need to avoid a second round. If the result holds, the General Municipal Election is set for November 3, a rematch-style finish that echoes 2022, when Bass defeated Rick Caruso only after both advanced out of the primary and no one cleared 50%.
The early tally also suggested where the race may harden as it moves into the runoff phase. Bass’s first-term record remains the central argument for supporters who want continuity on the city’s most visible crises, especially homelessness and post-disaster recovery. Her office says she issued a homelessness state of emergency on her first day in office and that street homelessness has declined for two straight years, including a 17.5% drop since she took office. Opponents, meanwhile, have tried to turn the contest into a referendum on whether those gains are enough for a city still struggling with housing costs, encampments and public safety.
Pratt’s second-place showing underscored how unpredictable the race had become. Live coverage framed the contest as a three-way battle among Bass, Raman and Pratt, with Pratt running as a former reality TV personality from The Hills and a Republican. Raman’s third-place position suggested that a bloc of voters looking for a progressive alternative had not consolidated behind one challenger, leaving Bass ahead but not secure.
The race is unfolding alongside a broader city ballot that includes the city controller, city attorney, several City Council districts and Los Angeles Unified School District Board seats, a reminder that Los Angeles voters are being asked to sort through a wide set of local priorities at once. For Bass, the path to a second term now depends on whether she can hold together a coalition broad enough to win in November, when the decisive contest is likely to be fought again over who can best manage the city’s homelessness crisis, keep neighborhoods safe and make Los Angeles more affordable.
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