It isn’t up for debate: Over the last year, the mayor of the City of Los Angeles has become increasingly unpopular. Karen Bass’s polling has gone sharply underwater, with polling showing 49 percent of Angelenos rating her unfavorably in 2025, compared to just 37 percent favorably.
The elephant in the room, of course, is in the mayor’s response to the fires across LA last January. Her actions and decisions, both before and during the fires, have been questioned from various angles. She’s come under scrutiny following recent allegations that she directed a cover-up of both the city’s and the LAFD’s failings in fighting the blaze. The incident has thrown her previously respected leadership into question, and one of the primary reasons she appears electorally vulnerable as she seeks reelection as the incumbent in a year that appears favorable to Democrats. But I believe there are more factors behind Bass’ drop in popularity than the fires — a steadily piling-up list of grievances among the same voters who helped her defeat Rick Caruso in 2022.
Bass’ progressive base has become alienated by her insistence on increasing LAPD funding despite city budget shortfalls, and as Police Chief Jim McDonnell appears reluctant to confront ICE. On the other end, LA’s growing pro-development movements have become increasingly frustrated as the city’s housing crisis continues to worsen — in October 2025, Bass made clear her opposition to SB79, a California State Bill intended to expedite the construction of dense affordable housing near transit stops, and accusations that she was beholden to “NIMBYs” and hostile to necessary development began to inch into the mainstream.
The job of the LA mayor is hard. Unlike New York City, where the mayor’s strongest obstacle is the state government, the LA mayor, while not a figurehead, has far less power, and Bass lacks the political leverage to act decisively on issues that have plagued the city. Bass has also failed to use much of the soft power that inherently comes with being the mayor of the second-largest city in the United States. She has been almost invisible in the anti-Trump movement despite LA’s status as a focal point for the administration’s indiscriminate raids on immigrant populations. She has also been slow to respond to unfolding events – for instance, taking an entire two weeks to call for Casey Wasserman’s resignation as Chairman of the LA Olympic Committee after his ties to Ghislaine Maxwell were revealed in the Epstein files.
Others recognize this electoral weakness: 40 candidates have decided to try their luck against the incumbent Bass in the 2026 mayoral election. And yet on Feb. 7, the morning of the filing deadline, I saw her position looking practically secure for the next four years. LA’s population had united against the heinous actions of the federal administration. Many of her more prominent prospective challengers had dropped out, such as former LA Unified School District (LAUSD) Superintendent Austin Beutner, following the tragic death of his daughter, or had declined to enter, such as LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath.
Her remaining challengers were either fairly obscure, such as the Rev. Rae Huang, a Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member, or simply electorally dead on arrival, such as TV star and registered Republican Spencer Pratt. Pratt is a candidate I would certainly like to be up against in the runoff as Bass: a simple question of Democrat against Republican in LA, of all places, and of all times.
Then, just hours before the deadline, City Council member Nithya Raman made a last-minute entry and that security began to evaporate.
Unlike some of the right-wing candidates looking to unseat Bass, Raman, another member of the DSA, is running against Bass from the left, making her arguably better-positioned to pick up the progressive vote by framing Bass as a status quo candidate. At the same time, Raman, unlike many other progressives, is perceived as pragmatically pro-development – she voted against the resolution that the LA City Council passed. Bass signed to oppose SB79 and has made efforts to reform Measure ULA, a sales tax on high-value real estate that has been criticized for hindering new housing construction in LA due to its broad scope.
If the opposition to Bass in LA is to coalesce behind anybody, I believe it would most likely be Raman, who also has one of the strongest degrees of name recognition on her side as a member of the City Council. The news appears inclined to agree, with most coverage of the race so far focusing on her surprise entry, and particularly on her nature as a former ally – one who previously gave an endorsement to Bass before choosing instead to run against her.
That is not to say that I believe that Bass is doomed. Given the last-minute nature of her candidacy, Raman will have to scramble to put a campaign structure in place. While Bass herself has avoided attacks, some of her campaigners have sought to highlight what they perceive as a betrayal and disruption in a moment where neither is needed. Many of LA’s strongest institutions have also coalesced around Bass.
What I do believe is that the question of LA’s next mayor has gone from one that was relatively easy to answer to one that is rather open-ended. I’d encourage everybody, however you feel about the mayor, to learn about all the candidates – not just Raman and Bass – and cast a ballot June 2 and, in the likely scenario of a runoff, November 3. This is the city that we all live in, and whoever you prefer probably has a shot now.
Contact Ryan Kim at rkim3@oxy.edu.
