Bass trails Raman in Los Angeles mayor’s race: Poll

A new poll shows Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass trailing behind City Council member Nithya Raman in the city’s mayoral race , with many respondents saying they are still undecided.

The poll released Wednesday by the University of California, Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored with the Los Angeles Times, found Raman ahead with support from 39 percent of Angelenos. Bass has support from 28 percent of likely voters, and 33 percent of voters remain unsure.

Poll director Mark DiCamillo told the Times that Raman “clearly has the advantage. Her task is a little less onerous than Bass.”

The same poll shows Bass with a high disapproval rating at 63 percent, with 28 percent favoring her job performance and 9 percent who have no opinion. Raman’s favorability rating is at 40 percent, with 39 percent viewing her unfavorably and 21 percent with no opinion.

Bass’s response to the devastating 2025 Palisades fire has fueled her unfavorable view among Angelenos since last year. Fifty-six percent of likely voters say Bass responded to the disaster poorly or very poorly, and 14 percent say she did either an excellent or a good job. Slightly more say she did a fair job responding to the deadly fire, which killed 12 people and destroyed more than 4,000 homes, at 17 percent.

Raman leads Bass in almost every portion of the city, with the San Fernando Valley to the north of downtown Los Angeles backing Raman at 34 percent compared to 26 percent for Bass and 40 percent undecided. Raman holds a thin lead in the Westside, 35-34.

DiCamillo warned that the high number of undecided voters means this portion of the electorate remains fluid, telling the outlet that it is “extraordinarily unusual.”

He linked the proportion of undecided voters with the residents who voted for former reality TV star Spencer Pratt, who reached third place in the nonpartisan primary election in June. Pratt received 26 percent of the vote.

The UC Berkeley/Los Angeles Times poll found that of those Pratt voters who are decided, 22 percent prefer Bass and 16 percent favor Raman.

Younger respondents between the ages 18 to 29 prefer Raman to Bass, at 66 percent and 4 percent, respectively. Raman also has support from 64 percent of respondents between 30 and 39, compared to 12 percent for Bass.

Half of likely voters between 40 to 49 years old also prefer Raman, with 18 percent choosing Bass, but that support narrows among voters 50 to 64 years old, with 35 percent for Raman and 33 percent for Bass.

Likely voters 65 and up support Bass over Raman, 41-21.

Previous polling showed a growing gap between the incumbent and the councilmember. But Raman made headlines over the summer with several major endorsements from labor groups, including from the Unite Here Local 11, which represents hospitality workers at hotels and the airport.

The progressive candidate also won the endorsement of the Democratic Socialists of America, the political organization of which she is a member.

The UC Berkeley/Los Angeles Times survey was conducted Sept. 15-20 and included 2,150 respondents. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.