Nithya Raman ousts incumbent Karen Bass in Los Angeles mayor's race, CBS News projects

Bass released a statement on Thursday morning conceding to Raman, saying she called her to congratulate her on the victory. The last time a challenger ousted a sitting LA mayor happened in 2005, when Antonio Villaraigosa defeated incumbent James Hahn.

"While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken. I have called Councilmember Nithya Raman to congratulate her on her victory, and I have committed to ensuring a smooth and seamless transition," Bass wrote.

Bass thanked her supporters and other leaders who helped during her campaign. She added that she will continue to "ensure the promise of a better life belongs to all of us."

During her Thursday night speech, Raman thanked Bass for "her decades of service to the city" and for her work to make LA "the epitome of the American Dream."

"I know her service is something that people across America have gratitude for, and certainly every person across Los Angeles," she said. "We committed to working together on the smoothest possible transition for Angelenos. We love this city. We want to make it an incredible, incredible place."

After Bass' concession, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell congratulated Raman and thanked Bass for her time in office. 

"As Chief of Police, I remain committed to leading a department that delivers professional, constitutional, and compassionate policing to all Angelenos," McDonnell wrote in a statement. "By working together, we can meet the challenges ahead and continue building a safer Los Angeles for everyone."  

Raman, a Democratic socialist, has been riding her momentum after pushing past Spencer Pratt in the June primary, but suffered a setback with voters a week before the election, according to the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and the Los Angeles Times.

A survey released by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and the LA Times shortly before the election showed Bass and Raman tied, with 40% support among likely voters.

Bass and Raman became frontrunners after the primary election when they rallied ahead of third-place candidate Pratt. 

"I want to tell every single Angeleno out there, I am going to work so hard, and everyone behind me is going to work so hard to earn your trust," Raman said. "To earn the trust of everyone across this city and to make people believe in Los Angeles again."

Councilmember Nithya Raman

Raman announced her surprise bid for mayor in February after previously endorsing Bass' reelection bid.

During the primary, Raman called her campaign a "long shot" before ultimately overtaking Pratt to face Bass in the general election.

Before being elected to Los Angeles City Council in 2020, Raman served as the co-chair of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council Homelessness Committee and co-founded a homeless advocacy nonprofit.

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 eventually passed 13-2. She said she hoped to undertake similar work to help small businesses.

Mayor Karen Bass

After serving more than two decades in public office as a congresswoman and as LA's 43rd Mayor, Bass said this race will be her last campaign for office.

Bass was raised in LA with her 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 LA battle substance abuse, poverty and crime.

She kickstarted her career in politics 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.

Leading up to the primary election, Bass received endorsements from notable politicians including California Gov. 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 vowed to vote for her in November.

"For the love of LA, I must put the past behind me because this election must be about our future," Caruso said in a post to X. "I will be casting my ballot for Mayor Karen Bass."

He also said in the video that he had concerns about Raman that were not "much about ideology, but about competence."