{"id":479361,"date":"2026-09-29T13:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T13:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/479361\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T13:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T13:18:08","slug":"rivals-for-la-mayor-set-to-meet-in-forum-as-city-struggles-with-homelessness-hollywood-job-losses-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/479361\/","title":{"rendered":"Rivals for LA mayor set to meet in forum as city struggles with homelessness, Hollywood job losses | National"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Two Democratic rivals seeking to lead troubled Los Angeles will meet in a high-stakes forum Tuesday just days before mail ballots drop, as voters weigh whether to stick with unpopular incumbent Karen Bass<\/a> or turn to a little-known City Council member backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, Nithya Raman<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The contest has raised the possibility that the nation’s second most populous city could follow New York’s lead, where democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani<\/a> was elected mayor, capping a stunning ascent<\/a> for the far-left state lawmaker who promised to transform city government to restore power to the working class. Yet in LA, no celebrity swirl has gathered around Raman in her first run for citywide office.<\/p>\n

The two Democrats are scheduled to appear at a forum sponsored by the Jewish Federation Los Angeles at a time when the party has been deeply divided over the war in Gaza<\/a> and aid to Israel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Raman, who endorsed Bass before reversing course and entering the race herself, is testing if voters in the heavily Democratic city want to move further to the political left to address long-running problems of homelessness, buckled streets and climbing rent and home prices. She’s railed against \u201cthe broken status quo.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a city known to shrug at local politics, the race to take charge at City Hall has been overshadowed by ongoing turmoil in Washington, the fight for Congress, two wars, anxiety over inflation and the Los Angeles Dodgers gearing up for another playoff run.<\/p>\n

On the horizon are questions about how the financially challenged city will manage the 2028 Olympics.<\/p>\n

After the fires, \u201cThere are a bunch of people who don\u2019t want to vote for Karen (Bass) and they are wrestling with what to do,\u201d said veteran Democratic strategist Bill Carrick. As a council member, Raman is not widely known and \u201cthe decibel level of this campaign is unbelievably low.\u201d<\/p>\n

With mail ballots scheduled to arrive at homes in early October, typical markers of election season \u2014 yard signs, TV ads, billboards and bumper stickers \u2014 are rarely seen. Data compiled by AdImpact shows the campaigns have spent or booked only a sprinkle of airtime and digital messaging so far through Election Day.<\/p>\n

Bass took office in 2022 promising to contend with an out-of-control homeless crisis, but the problem remains in plain view in most neighborhoods. Figures released in July showed homelessness increased over the previous year, after taking a dip. Bass faulted the Trump<\/a> administration for cuts and policies \u201cthat pushed more people onto the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n

During her time in office, the city has weathered federal immigration raids<\/a> and witnessed a continuing exit of Hollywood jobs, while residents complain about dirty, crumbling streets and homeless encampments.<\/p>\n

Raman, who could be the first South Asian woman in the job, says while City Hall has favored powerful insiders \u201cworking people pay the price in higher rents, depleted services and a city that has stopped working for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bass represents the Democratic establishment as the incumbent mayor, and she\u2019s backed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with influential labor unions. She served in the state Legislature and Congress before becoming mayor in 2022.<\/p>\n

Raman has promised to speed up housing construction, bring back entertainment industry jobs and improve services in a city known for filthy streets, gridlock and an unresponsive City Hall.<\/p>\n

One of the unknowns in the race is where Pratt’s supporters will go, if they vote at all. Pratt finished with about 25% of the vote, several points behind Raman. He’s continued to criticize both candidates on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cTruly the Dumb and Dumber election. So sad for LA. Dark times ahead, folks,\u201d he recently posted on X.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Two Democratic rivals seeking to lead troubled Los Angeles will meet in a high-stakes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479362,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[3689,989,175,18,1493,844,48,52,51,47,50,188030,49,13,118786,17,1710],"class_list":["post-479361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-black-experience","tag-elections","tag-fires","tag-general-news","tag-homelessness","tag-jobs-and-careers","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-mayor-karen-bass-nithya-raman","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-politics","tag-socialism","tag-u-s-news","tag-voting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}