LOS ANGELES, CA – Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath endorsed City Councilmember Nithya Raman on Tuesday in the Nov. 3 runoff for Los Angeles mayor, giving Raman a county elected official’s backing in a race in which incumbent Mayor Karen Bass holds most of the endorsements from elected officials.
Horvath announced her support on Oct. 20, 14 days before the general election. Her Third District has about 2 million people, takes in large portions of the Westside and the San Fernando Valley, and includes the entire burn area of the January 2025 Palisades fire.
She was scheduled to discuss the endorsement at an appearance with Raman the same day. Horvath said Raman will shake up the status quo and bring a new approach to homelessness, housing affordability, emergency preparedness and other issues.
Bass and Raman advanced from the June 2 primary, in which Bass received 34.27% of the vote and Raman 29.02%. The runoff will decide who serves as the city’s next mayor.
Horvath says Raman would disrupt the status quo
Horvath said she understands the criticism that Raman has few allies at City Hall. “It’s been said that she doesn’t have many friends at City Hall, and I know what that feels like,” she said.
She said that taking on institutional inertia can feel disruptive to people, but that it is the kind of leadership she believes residents want in Los Angeles right now.
Horvath also said she and Raman do not always agree. “It’s no secret that Nithya and I don’t agree on everything,” she said, adding that the two have respect and regard for one another in their respective positions.
Bass still holds most elected endorsements
Thirteen of Raman’s City Council colleagues have endorsed Bass. A fourteenth, Councilmember Traci Park, has said she is voting for the mayor despite reservations.
Bass also has the endorsements of the four other county supervisors and Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna. Horvath is the only member of the Board of Supervisors backing Raman. Among Raman’s other supporters is City Controller Kenneth Mejia.
Horvath’s district also includes parts of the city that favored Spencer Pratt, a former mayoral candidate who placed third in the June 2 primary.
Horvath and Bass once worked together
Horvath and Bass were once on friendly terms. Horvath supported the mayor’s early responses to homelessness and introduced her at the 2024 State of the City address.
The relationship changed after the January 2025 Palisades fire, which destroyed thousands of homes and left 12 people dead. Horvath, whose district includes the whole burn area, sent Bass several text messages in the weeks that followed expressing frustration over communications and other issues.
Horvath later described the city’s record on homelessness as “indefensible.”
County vote to move homeless services from LAHSA
The dispute over homelessness policy runs through the county’s decision to take over functions long handled by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, known as LAHSA. On Nov. 20, 2024, Horvath, then chair of the Board of Supervisors, responded to a county Auditor-Controller audit of LAHSA with a motion to create a new county department on homelessness.
On April 1, 2025, the board approved a motion from Horvath and Chair Kathryn Barger to consolidate homeless services into one county department. The vote was 4-0-1, according to Horvath’s statement on the action.
The statement said the action brought functions performed by LAHSA back under direct board oversight, with the transition of staff and funding to be completed by July 1, 2026. In it, Horvath said that “with the support of my colleagues, Los Angeles County is leaving the status quo behind, and is embracing a model for homeless services that centers accountability and results.”
The shift moved more than $300 million out of LAHSA and into the new county agency. Bass has criticized the move. “Once you create a department, once you create a bureaucracy, it never goes away. And then where’s the incentive to actually end homelessness?” she said in September.
Bass and Raman opposed the plan
Bass and Raman sent a joint letter to the Board of Supervisors before the vote, urging it to consider the impact of adding bureaucracy, according to a statement on the mayor’s website. According to initial reports, the letter warned that the change would significantly disrupt the city’s response to homelessness.
Raman and four other council members also appeared in person before the supervisors to ask them to hold off. The board approved the plan anyway.
Shortly before launching her mayoral bid, Raman also voiced frustration over the county’s handling of mental health services for homeless residents and what she described as a lack of data.
New county department takes shape
The county board named the first director of the new agency on July 8, 2025. It approved the appointment of Sarah Mahin as the first director of the Department of Homeless Services and Housing, according to the Board of Supervisors’ announcement.
The same announcement said the board approved creating the department on April 1, 2025, and approved its name on July 1, 2025. The department was to be established by Jan. 1, 2026.
Horvath said she and her colleagues have responded to critiques from Raman and other city leaders by working to improve the system. She said she and Raman share a commitment to making sure the county and city overcome the mistakes and failures of the past.
2026 homeless count shows increases
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority released its 2026 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count on July 24. It estimated 73,040 people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County, a 1.2% increase, and 45,194 people in the city of Los Angeles, a 3.4% increase, according to the agency’s release on the results.
In a statement the same day, the county Department of Homeless Services and Housing said homelessness rose 1.2% overall and unsheltered homelessness rose 3.3% countywide. The department attributed the increase to a decline in state and federal funding rather than a failure of local strategy.
Bass offered a different account in her statement on the count. She said homelessness had fallen for two years straight, but that last year’s efforts could not keep pace with federal and state policy and funding cuts. She also said LAHSA’s money was not tracked and that providers went unpaid.
According to the statement, the city’s unsheltered count rose 7.9%, or 2,143 people, while the sheltered count fell 3.9%, or 644 people.
Candidates have clashed over homelessness policy
The two candidates met in a televised debate on Oct. 13, according to initial reports. Bass said Raman was not ready for the job, while Raman argued that the mayor’s homelessness program is costly and not transparent.
Horvath’s endorsement comes as that policy dispute, and the county’s role in it, remains a central subject of the campaign. Bass has maintained that the county’s creation of a new department added bureaucracy, while Horvath has said it brings accountability and results.
Runoff election is Nov. 3
Horvath’s endorsement does not change the lineup for the Nov. 3 general election, in which Bass and Raman are the two candidates for mayor. Bass keeps the backing of the four other supervisors, the sheriff and most of the City Council.
Horvath was scheduled to appear with Raman on Tuesday to discuss her decision.
