Community organizer and minister Rae Huang was expected to formally announce her candidacy for mayor of Los Angeles Sunday, offering voters an option to the left of incumbent Democrat Karen Bass and potentially complicating Bass’ prospects for avoiding a runoff next June.

The 43-year-old Huang is deputy director of Housing Now California, a coalition of over 150 organizations that fights tenant displacement. She is also a member of the Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, and if elected would be Los Angeles’ first Asian-American mayor.

Huang planned to hold an official campaign launch event Sunday afternoon at Arts District Brewing Co. in downtown Los Angeles.

“I am excited and very humbled to announce that I am running for Mayor of Los Angeles, the second largest city in our nation,” Huang said in an Instagram post before Sunday’s formal campaign kickoff event.

“After over 20 years of leaning into my call to serve God through social justice work and organizing, this path has led me in these uncertain times to take the unusual path to continue my calling by running for Mayor to finally see through the changes the LA social justice movement and I have been building for years.

“This fight is not my own, but built on years of dedication and commitment of leaders before me who have fought to make LA more affordable, healthier, sustainable and safer for all. My platform will be focused on housing for all, building an economy for the people — not billionaires — fast and free metro, climate resiliency, and REAL safety through care first models, so that we focus on fighting poverty, not the poor. Over the past decade I have worked with Los Angeles organizers and neighbors on solutions for our city. Now it’s time we implement them. I will be running against establishment and the billionaire class and will not be accepting any money from corporations.

“I believe in the working people who are the backbone of this country. And I believe we can win a city that is led with love and justice at the center and at the helm. Please join me in transforming my beloved city and our country in building the hope we need to resurrect,” she continued.

Huang is a long shot to win with little name recognition or political experience, but if her campaign gains traction she could siphon enough votes from Bass’ Democratic base to keep the mayor from a majority in the June 2 election. If no candidate receives over 50%, the top two finishers will compete for the office in November.

Bass did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Huang’s announcement.

Former LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner also has declared his candidacy for mayor.

“Rev. Huang and I share many concerns about the direction of Los Angeles, including our city’s lack of affordable housing. I look forward to getting to know her during the campaign ahead,” Beutner told City News Service on Sunday.

The 72-year-old Bass, a former congresswoman and assemblywoman and a onetime community organizer herself, defeated businessman Rick Caruso in 2022 to become mayor. She has presided over an unprecedented spending effort to combat the city’s homelessness crises, which has seen a reduction in the city’s number of unsheltered people. She has also taken a leading role in opposing President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration in Los Angeles.

But some say the city still isn’t doing enough to address high housing costs, and Bass also came under criticism for her handling of the devastating Palisades Fire in January, when the mayor was out of the country.

Caruso has not announced whether he will run for mayor again in 2026.

Bass and Beutner are both Democrats, and Caruso registered as a Democrat before the 2022 election, though he had previously been registered as a Republican. The mayor’s office is technically a nonpartisan office, and party affiliations do not appear on the ballot.