{"id":494465,"date":"2026-10-13T08:00:21","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T08:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/494465\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T08:00:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T08:00:21","slug":"karen-bass-nithya-raman-to-meet-in-la-mayor-election-debate-nbc-los-angeles-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/494465\/","title":{"rendered":"Karen Bass, Nithya Raman to meet in LA mayor election debate \u2013 NBC Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"

What to KnowLos Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman will meet in a one-hour, commercial-free televised debate Tuesday at 7 p.m.The debate hosted by NBC4 and Telemundo 52 is scheduled for 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Councilmember Raman finished second to Bass in the June primary, which included reality TV star Spencer Pratt, setting up the high-stakes November runoff<\/a>.Bass has never lost an election for public office, having served for decades in both Sacramento and Washington, D.C.NBC4 News anchor Colleen Williams, NBC4 Chief Political Reporter Conan Nolan and Noticiero Telemundo 52 anchor Alejandra Ortiz, will moderate.<\/p>\n

Incumbent Karen Bass<\/a> and challenger Nithya Raman have an opportunity Tuesday night to share their visions for Los Angeles with voters as their campaigns for mayor enter the final stretch.<\/p>\n

Bass and Raman will participate in a live one-hour, commercial-free debate, hosted by NBC4 and Telemundo 52, scheduled for 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Topics will include public safety, homelessness, housing and economic development as the candidate make their appeals to voters with three weeks to go before the Nov. 3 general election<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The event offers voters a chance to hear from the two one-time political allies about how they plan to guide the city in the coming four-year term. Councilmember Raman finished second to Bass in the June primary field, which included reality TV star Spencer Pratt, setting up the high-stakes November runoff.<\/p>\n

Raman endorsed the mayor at the start of the year for re-election. Weeks later, the Fourth District representative launched her own campaign in a surprise that shook up Los Angeles politics.<\/p>\n

Raman, who is endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, has been on the council since 2020, representing Los Feliz, Reseda, the Hollywood Hills and other stretches of the San Fernando Valley. In her campaign announcement speech, Raman expressed concern that Los Angeles is at a “breaking point” and no longer “a place of opportunity.”<\/p>\n

Bass has never lost an election for public office, having served for decades in both Sacramento and Washington, D.C. In 2004, Bass was elected to the California State Assembly, where she was speaker from 2008 to 2010. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010 and chaired the Congressional Black Caucus. <\/p>\n

Bass defeated Los Angeles real estate developer Rick Caruso in the 2022 mayoral election, becoming the first woman to serve as mayor of LA.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe latest poll shows Nithya Raman has a lead over Mayor Karen Bass ahead of the LA mayoral election, but many voters appear to be undecided. Conan Nolan reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Bass and Raman have clashed over several issues since the June primary, including public safety, homelessness<\/a>, the Boyle Heights cold food storage warehouse fire and response, city spending and the handling of the deadly January 2025 wildfires. <\/p>\n

At the time the Palisades Fire broke out on Jan. 7, 2025, Bass was on a trip to Ghana as part of a Biden Administration delegation for the inauguration of the West Africa nation’s president. She has called the trip a mistake<\/a> and vowed to make it her mission to rebuild confidence<\/p>\n

Bass has touted her Inside Safe initiative in the city’s efforts to address homelessness and street encampments. Raman has said she will seek an alternative to address homelessness, criticizing the program at a May debate<\/a> as too expensive. <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA property considered a nuisance to Studio City residents has finally been cleared out. Charisse Gibson reports for NBC4 at 3 p.m. on Sept. 14, 2026.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

In August, a public spat in the San Fernando Valley ensued after residents in a Studio City neighborhood expressed frustration over an abandoned property that they said was plagued with problems for years before an early morning fire. Residents said the lot has been occupied by homeless people for years and called the fire the latest in a long list of problems that they reported to the city, including trash and disruptive behavior.<\/p>\n

Raman, whose council district includes the neighborhood, and Bass both visited the location and offered different reasons behind the troublesome property<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tChief McDonnell said he was disappointed by the councilmember’s remarks, noting that dozens of officers were injured during anti-ICE protests last year. Conan Nolan reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

One of the most recent flashpoints stemmed from a social media video that featured Raman alongside a digital creator. Raman’s campaign said the candidate was asked to repeat the tagline, “Only you can stop fascist liars,<\/a>” in the context of ICE and the Trump administration\u2019s immigration policies.<\/p>\n

The campaign said the video was then edited by the creator with the images of Mayor Bass and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell appearing on screen. Bass\u2019 reelection campaign also criticized Raman over the video, accusing her of using extreme rhetoric against LAPD officers.<\/p>\n

The two also were at odds<\/a> over a recent Berkeley IGS\/LA Times poll<\/a>\u00a0that showed the challenger with a double-digit percentage point lead among likely Los Angeles voters. <\/p>\n

The poll also found that 33% of voters remain undecided in the race for mayor ahead of the Nov. 3 general election.<\/p>\n

About the candidates<\/p>\n

Born in Los Angeles, Bass is a 1982 graduate of the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program in 1982. She was a physician’s assistant who later started Community Coalition in response to the crack-cocaine epidemic and other issues before turning to politics. <\/p>\n

Bass has the endorsement of 13 of the City Council’s 14 members. <\/p>\n

Raman, of Silver Lake, earned a Bachelor’s degree in Social Studies\/Political Theory from Harvard University in 2003 and a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She co-founded the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition and also served in the Office of the city administrative Officer.<\/p>\n

Before running for council, Raman was executive director of Time’s Up Entertainment, a group aiming to combat sexual harassment in Hollywood. Raman defeated incumbent David Ryu in the November 2020 election. <\/p>\n

How to watch the Oct. 13 mayoral candidates debate<\/p>\n

In addition to being available on the broadcast channels, the live event will stream on nbcla.com, telemundo52.com, on the free NBCLA and Telemundo 52 mobile apps and on the stations\u2019 free 24\/7 local news streaming channels NBC Los Angeles News and Noticias Telemundo California which are accessible on Amazon Fire TV, Roku, and Samsung TV Plus.<\/p>\n

The debate is in partnership with Loyola Marymount University. NBC4 News anchor Colleen Williams, NBC4 Chief Political Reporter Conan Nolan and Noticiero Telemundo 52 anchor Alejandra Ortiz, will moderate.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

About the November election<\/p>\n

County elections officials began mailing each registered voter a vote-by-mail ballot Oct. 5.<\/p>\n

The last day to register to vote in the general election is Oct. 19. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day in California.<\/p>\n

In addition to the closely watch race for Los Angeles mayor, ballot measures, the contest for California governor, and other state, county and local offices will be decided by voters. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What to KnowLos Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman will meet in a one-hour, commercial-free…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[38024,48,52,51,47,50,49],"class_list":["post-494465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-decision-2026","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494465","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=494465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}