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A Democratic socialist from the far left has taken an unexpected lead in the Los Angeles mayoral race, surpassing the current mayor, Karen Bass.
Nithya Raman, a City Councilwoman, has surged ahead with 33 percent support in the latest poll, leaving Bass behind at 17 percent in the competition to govern the California city.
Raman has captured public attention with her progressive perspectives on solving Los Angeles’ challenges, including her controversial stance that car manufacturers are at fault for making catalytic converters too easy to steal amidst a rise in car thefts.
Additionally, she recently drew attention for her nonchalant response when questioned about the safety of homeless encampments being set up near schools in the city.
The poll, conducted by the Loyola Marymount University Center for the Study of Los Angeles, also reveals that Bass holds a narrow lead over reality TV personality Spencer Pratt, who has garnered 12 percent support.
Pratt is running as a fervent critic of Bass’s leadership, in particular her handling of the Palisades Fire last year which killed almost 20 people and burned thousands of buildings, including his home.
Bass’s tenure has been marked by a number of similar missteps, leaving her in danger of becoming the first LA mayor not to win re-election in over 20 years.
She faces a stacked field of opponents led by Raman, with leftist activist Rae Huang registering close behind Bass at 16 percent support, and tech executive Adam Miller at 13 percent.
While Bass maintains her lead in other polls, the latest survey shows she is far from safe in her bid to be re-elected when LA voters head to the ballot box in June.
The latest poll also found that almost 50 percent of LA voters prefer a socialist candidate, leading the polling firm’s director Fernando Guerra to suggest even Bass is not liberal enough for the Blue city.
Far-left Democratic socialist Nithya Raman has taken a stunning lead over incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in the race to lead the California city
Bass faces becoming the first Los Angeles mayor in over 20 years to lose re-election
Guerra told the LA Times that the poll, which found just eight percent of voters want an ‘establishment’ Democrat, may show Bass is out of touch with her electorate.
‘Los Angeles is much more progressive than its elected leadership. This poll captures that,’ he said.
Raman’s lead comes as the City Councilwoman has launched a far-left platform and built a reputation for woke takes on Los Angeles’ issues.
In 2023, during a surge in automobile thefts across the city, the local lawmaker sparked backlash by voting against banning the unlawful possession of catalytic converters, a valuable car part that is often stolen by auto-thieves.
Raman said she voted against the ban because she believed car makers were simply making the part too easy to steal.
‘In this case, I think one of the things that infuriates me, is that we have a company — whatever, Toyota — who makes the Prius, that essentially has a device on their cars which is super easy to remove. It’s basically the value of a MacBook, right?’ she said at the time.
Despite almost 8,000 catalytic converters being stolen in 2022, Raman said her solution was to ‘manufacture a car that actually is not so easy to be stolen.’
Nithya was seen on footage in 2023 shrugging her shoulders as she blamed car manufacturers for making their parts too easy to steal during a surge in automobile thefts in Los Angeles
Under Bass’s leadership, homelessness has failed be brought down significantly even as the city poured over $500 million into fixing it
Raman, who is a dues-paying member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), has also come under scrutiny for her policies on solving Los Angeles’s homeless issues.
Under Bass’s leadership, homelessness has failed be brought down significantly even as the city poured huge funds into fixing it.
According to a report from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), homelessness in Los Angeles in 2025 stood at a staggering 67,777 people, down just 141 people despite a reported $516 million being spent.
But when Raman was grilled about how she would solve the crisis at a debate, she drew boos from the crowd.
She told an audience in 2024 that she did not believe it would make any difference in enforcing laws banning homeless encampments from coming within 500 feet of schools, drawing the ire of the crowd.
‘I don’t think a kid’s gonna be safer if they are 10 feet or 500 feet away from a school,’ Raman said, as she shrugged her shoulders on stage, reported the California Post.
She clarified in a statement after her remarks drew backlash: ‘Keeping children safe is so important to me, especially as the mother of 10-year-old twins who walk to school every day.
‘Rather than spending resources to move encampments down the street, where they remain on corridors where children and others walk, my focus has been on building a citywide homelessness response system that works to quickly and safely move people indoors.’
The Daily Mail has contacted Raman and Bass’s offices for comment on the latest poll results and the state of the mayoral race.