LOS ANGELES, CA – Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman spent the final weekend before Tuesday’s general municipal election campaigning across Los Angeles, with the most recent public poll showing the two candidates tied at 40% among likely voters.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Bass, the incumbent, and Raman advanced from the June 2 primary, and the City Clerk’s list of certified candidates for the Nov. 3 general municipal election includes both of them for mayor.
Both candidates made public appearances Sunday, Nov. 1. Raman rallied campaign volunteers in the San Fernando Valley, while Bass cast her ballot in Koreatown with her family and then visited several houses of worship.
A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll released Oct. 28 put Bass and Raman at 40% each among likely voters, with 19% undecided. The poll surveyed 2,197 voters online between Oct. 19 and Oct. 25 and has a margin of error of about 3 percentage points.
Raman starts Sunday in Boyle Heights
Raman began Sunday in Boyle Heights, where she attended 9 a.m. Mass at Dolores Mission Catholic Church and spoke with parishioners in English and Spanish, according to initial reports.
She later rallied campaign volunteers in the San Fernando Valley. “We can actually fight for a more affordable Los Angeles,” Raman said, adding, “L.A. is frustrated and I will bring change.”
Raman has served on the City Council since 2020 and represents District 4, which runs from Silver Lake to Sherman Oaks, according to her council office. She chairs the Civil Rights, Immigration, Social Services, and Neighborhoods Committee and vice-chairs the Planning and Land Use Management Committee.
Bass votes in Koreatown and visits houses of worship
Bass spoke to reporters and cast her ballot in Koreatown with her family on Sunday. She then went on to four churches and one Sikh temple.
She also stopped at South L.A. Cafe to speak with members of historically Black fraternities and sororities.
Bass said Los Angeles will become much more affordable over the next four years because the 47,000 housing units in the pipeline will be finished. She described herself as “the same person as I have been.”
Primary results and an earlier poll
In the June 2 primary, Bass received 34.3% of the vote and Raman received 29.0%. Those results sent the two to the general election.
The Oct. 28 poll is a snapshot of voter preferences during a specific period and not a projection of the result. An earlier survey in late September had shown Raman ahead of Bass 39% to 28%.
Housing pipeline at the center of Bass’s pitch
The mayor’s office announced in a news release that more than 10,000 units of affordable housing have been built under her administration. The release says more than 47,000 additional units are in the pipeline because of Executive Directive 1.
Those are figures from the mayor’s office. They are the same 47,000 units Bass referred to Sunday when she said the city would become much more affordable in the next four years.
Homelessness count frames the race
Homelessness has been a central issue in the campaign. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority reported on July 24 that its 2026 homeless count found homelessness in the City of Los Angeles rose 3.4% to 45,194 people.
Unsheltered homelessness in the city rose 7.9% to an estimated 29,115 people, according to the count. In Los Angeles County, unsheltered homelessness rose 3.3% to an estimated 49,002 people.
The agency attributes the rise mainly to reduced Time Limited Subsidies, which cut permanent housing placements in 2025. “The lack of movement in the system left fewer available beds for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness to fill,” the agency said.
At an Oct. 30 event in Encino, Raman pointed to her office’s work on the issue. “We brought outreach here, we brought people indoors, and these areas have stayed clear,” she said.
Raman has also criticized the Inside Safe program, saying it costs $80,000 to $100,000 per person per year.
Public safety positions from the Encino events
Bass held a press conference at a supporter’s home in Encino on Oct. 30 that focused on public safety. “I will do anything and everything I can to keep everyone in Los Angeles safe,” she said.
Bass said the Los Angeles Police Department has roughly 8,500 to 8,600 sworn officers and that the number is not enough ahead of the 2028 Olympics.
Raman supports keeping the department’s current size while expanding unarmed response teams.
Campaign finance rules for citywide races
The Los Angeles City Ethics Commission’s matching funds FAQs describe how the city’s public financing works. The city matches qualified individual contributions at $6 in public funds for every matchable $1.
For citywide candidates, the maximum matched per contributor is $257. The per-person contribution limit for citywide offices in 2026 is $1,800.
Other contests share the Nov. 3 ballot
The mayor’s race is not the only contest on the city ballot. According to initial reports, voters will also decide the City Attorney race and the Council District 3 and District 9 races, along with eight city measures.
The statewide governor’s race is on the same ballot, with Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton as the candidates.
Vote centers open through Nov. 2, then on Election Day
Los Angeles County opened 123 vote centers on Saturday, Oct. 24, according to the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. The office said in a news release that “Vote Centers will be open daily from 10 AM to 7 PM for in-person voting, voter registration, and Vote by Mail ballot returns.”
Vote centers are open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Monday, Nov. 2, and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. The county says locations can be found at locator.lavote.gov.
In a separate statement, the county said 646 vote centers are open through Nov. 2 and 429 ballot drop boxes will be open until 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Registrar Dean C. Logan said the office’s responsibility is to uphold the law, protect eligible voters and ensure public confidence is grounded in facts. The county’s statement also describes signature verification for all vote-by-mail ballots and a livestream that lets the public observe election operations.
Certification is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 27
The county’s election results page states: “Election results are not final on Election Night.” Ballot counting and verification continue during the official canvass period.
Results are reported on an Election Night Results Schedule and a Post-Election Results Schedule. Vote-by-mail ballots received within seven days, conditional voter registration ballots and provisional ballots may be counted after Election Day.
The county is tentatively scheduled to certify the results on Nov. 27. No official results exist yet, and the race between Bass and Raman will be decided by the ballots counted through that canvass.
