LOS ANGELES, CA – Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, the only member of the Board of Supervisors to endorse Nithya Raman, said Friday that Raman’s victory over Mayor Karen Bass shows that voters want a different direction for the city, which Raman is set to lead as mayor beginning in December.
Horvath made the comments Friday, Nov. 6, three days after the Nov. 3 general election and one day after Bass conceded the race. Raman is a member of the Los Angeles City Council.
Horvath said the result did not surprise her because “people are hungry for change.” She also said, “People are angry. They are fed up.”
She described Raman as “very data-driven and results-driven” and said elected leaders at the city and county levels have a responsibility to work together, whatever positions they took during the campaign.
Under the Los Angeles City Charter, the mayor’s term begins on the second Monday of December, which falls on Dec. 14 this year.
Raman leads Bass by about 8 points in county tally
The latest figures on the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s results page showed Raman with 539,581 votes, or 53.92%, and Bass with 461,099 votes, or 46.08%. The page listed its last update as 10:59 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6.
That is a lead of about 78,500 votes. The page covers Los Angeles County results only, and the totals are unofficial until the county certifies them.
Earlier counts released Thursday morning had Raman at 429,450 votes, or 52.1%, and Bass at 394,796 votes, or 47.9%. Her share has grown as additional ballots were tallied.
Bass concedes and promises a transition
Bass conceded Thursday, Nov. 5, in a statement released after that morning’s vote count. “While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken,” she said.
Bass said she had called Raman to congratulate her and had committed to ensuring “a smooth and seamless transition.”
Raman, who describes herself as a Democratic Socialist, thanked her supporters and paid tribute to Bass for her decades of public service. She said she would go to City Hall “to work every single day to earn your trust.”
Horvath says voters want results
In her comments Friday, Horvath tied the outcome to frustration among residents of Los Angeles. She said voters want a more affordable city and transportation options that actually get them where they are going.
She said voters “expect us to work together” and that officials chosen in the election are meant to function as a team, regardless of earlier endorsements or disagreements.
Horvath named several areas where the city and county could cooperate under a Raman administration: the response to homelessness, transportation, support for immigrant communities, renter protections and the development of affordable housing.
Horvath endorsed Raman on Oct. 20
Horvath announced her endorsement of Raman on Oct. 20, about two weeks before the election. In that announcement, she said Raman would shake up the status quo and bring a new approach to homelessness, housing affordability, emergency preparedness and other issues.
The other four members of the five-member Board of Supervisors did not endorse Raman, which makes Horvath the only supervisor to have backed her campaign.
Homelessness is a central area of overlap
Homelessness is the issue on which the city and county governments overlap most visibly. Horvath’s office says she is working to unify county programs in the new Department of Homeless Services and Housing, which she describes on her homelessness and housing page as “a streamlined, accountable system that focuses on people, not bureaucracy.”
The same page notes that she introduced a motion on Jan. 10, 2023, declaring a homelessness emergency in Los Angeles County. The Board approved it unanimously.
In a statement issued July 24 on the release of the 2026 homeless count, Horvath said the point-in-time count is only one metric of progress. She said housing production, affordability and supportive services are “the biggest drivers of lasting change.”
2026 count shows increases in city and county
According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s 2026 count results, the number of people experiencing homelessness in the city of Los Angeles rose 3.4% to 45,194, up from 43,695 in 2025. The countywide estimate rose 1.2% to 73,040, up from 72,195.
Unsheltered homelessness rose 3.3% in the county, to an estimated 49,002 people, and 7.9% in the city, to an estimated 29,115. The authority identified a pause in new enrollments and permanent housing placements through Time Limited Subsidies as the primary driver of the increase.
The count also found a 14% decline in the number of family members experiencing homelessness in the Los Angeles Continuum of Care, from 11,207 in 2025 to 9,638 in 2026. The authority cautioned that reduced access to family services may have affected that figure.
County takes over Continuum of Care roles
The regional Continuum of Care, which coordinates homelessness funding and services across Los Angeles County, is also changing hands. In an Oct. 10 statement, Horvath said the county “is ready to lead the Continuum of Care and unite our region’s response to homelessness.”
She said the City of Los Angeles, the county’s 87 other cities and more than 100 unincorporated communities must have a voice in shaping that response. She added that the county had committed to the city that, at a minimum, it would keep the access to the regional data system and the coordinated entry system that it currently has through the authority.
In the same statement, Horvath called the failure to hold the Continuum of Care’s Oct. 9 meeting “unacceptable” and said it must be rescheduled immediately.
On Oct. 29, the county announced that the Continuum of Care’s General Membership had voted for the county’s Department of Homeless Services and Housing to take on four regional roles, according to a county news release. They are collaborative applicant for federal funding, lead of the regional homelessness data system, manager of the coordinated entry system and administrator of the point-in-time count.
The release said the selection followed an August 2026 order from U.S. District Judge David O. Carter. It quoted department Director Sarah Mahin and Continuum of Care Board Chair Ben Kay, and it said more information would follow on implementation.
Raman takes office Dec. 14
Raman will be sworn in on Dec. 14, when Bass’s term ends. Bass has said she will ensure a smooth transition in the interim.
The county results remain unofficial until certified by the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, and ballot processing continues. Horvath’s comments Friday did not include a timetable for any joint city-county initiatives.
