In sprawling Los Angeles, Nithya Raman and her supporters may be on the verge of turning dissatisfaction into a change of guard.
Raman is leading Mayor Karen Bass in the latest Los Angeles County election results as of 4:30 p.m. Nov. 4, though ballots will continue to be counted in the days ahead.
This moment for Los Angeles — a possible Raman win, one where an incumbent Los Angeles mayor is ousted for the first time in over two decades — means people are “frustrated with the state of affairs in Los Angeles,” Mike Bonin, the executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State LA, told the USA TODAY Network.
Raman characterized the mayoral election as one that’s “about change” to a crowd of supporters at the Greek Theatre
after polls closed on Nov. 3.
It’s about a city “engineered” in recent decades to “resist change,” and the people who’ve said enough, the progressive city councilmember said.
“We stopped asking when the sidewalk would be fixed and started planning our commute around it. We stopped asking why the permit took two years to get approved and started assuming that's just how it works here. We watched friend after friend, family after family leave because they couldn't afford to stay here anymore,” she said. “And we all talked about it as if these things were completely out of City Hall's control.”
Throughout her campaign, Raman has expressed concerns about how effective Los Angeles is at serving its residents — she’s pointed to broken streetlights, potholes, and a rise in homelessness. But Raman has argued that a version of Los Angeles works.
She wasn’t alone in her message.
“It’s time for a new chapter, everyone. It’s time for a city hall that actually gives a d--- about you all, a city hall that fights for you,” Kenneth Mejia, the Los Angeles city controller who’s amassed his own following, said during Raman’s election night campaign event.
Then there was Lindsey Horvath, the Los Angeles County Supervisor who opted not to run for mayor and more recently endorsed Raman. As she told the crowd, she’s ready for a city that works for you. It’s why she endorsed her.
“These past four years, we have seen failure after failure,” Horvath said. “And we have seen how the politics of the status quo has not delivered for each and every one of us.”
Bass, an experienced elected official who has served in the California State Legislature and the House of Representatives, made history as becoming the first woman to serve as mayor of Los Angeles when she was elected in 2022. She’s presided over a sprawling city facing devastating fires, federal immigration sweeps, major budget woes, and the ever-present question of how to get people off its streets.
Early in her tenure, she launched her Inside Safe program as mayor, an initiative that works to get people off the street — a program that’s garnered scrutiny for its effectiveness and cost. She also issued an early executive directive to speed up affordable housing project reviews and approvals — the former, she has said, has led to over 6,000 affordable housing units under construction and far more in “the pipeline.”
And amid Bass’ tenure have been achievements like homicides in Los Angeles dropping to their lowest since 1966, a 2025 Los Angeles Police Department review found.
But looming over her reelection bid was the devastating Palisades Fire that burned thousands of homes and structures and killed 12 people. The fire cast a harsh spotlight on the city and Bass herself — Bass was reportedly out of the country when the fire broke out. About a year ago this time, a survey from Loyola Marymount University’s Center for the Study of Los Angeles found that just 29% of Los Angeles city voters believed things were going in the right direction.
Also at play: A fire at a temperature-controlled storage facility burned for days, leaving residents in a predominantly Latino neighborhood worried about potential health impacts and dealing with a foul odor — Raman spotlighted organizing over the fires in her election night speech.
Vincenzo Loconte, 45, attended Raman’s election night event and is hopeful for what Raman’s mayoralty will bring to Los Angeles.
Loconte pointed to her background in urban planning, saying we need experts in positions of power to lead, develop and grow Los Angeles.
“I’m seeing things slowing down in our city. I’m seeing things that should be done not getting done,” he said, citing the long-delayed opening of LAX’s electric train known as the people mover, and housing.
“At this moment, I’m hopeful that with the right people that we’re actually going to get these things we’ve been promised, we’ve been hoping for and we’ve been voting for for so long,” Loconte said.
Paris Barraza is a reporter covering Los Angeles and Southern California for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at pbarraza@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'A new chapter.’ What Raman supporters say in fierce LA mayor race
