Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has a lead over her challengers in her bid for reelection, but greater than half of voters view her unfavorably, in response to a poll launched Sunday.
Bass was supported by 25% of voters, whereas City Councilmember Nithya Raman drew 17% and conservative actuality TV star Spencer Pratt got here in third at 14% in the poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by The Times.
About 1 / 4 of voters have been undecided, the poll discovered.
Bass has come beneath heavy criticism for her handling of the devastating Palisades fire. More than a 12 months later, 56% of these polled stated that they had an unfavorable view of her, whereas 31% seen her favorably.
The survey of 840 seemingly voters between March 9 and 15 supplies one in every of the first snapshots of the mayoral race, lower than three months earlier than the June 2 main.
Beyond the prime three, leftist Rae Huang notched assist from 8% of these polled, whereas tech entrepreneur Adam Miller drew 6%.
Despite Bass’ lead, the poll is “borderline catastrophic” for her, as a result of the field of candidates is so weak, stated Dan Schnur, a politics professor at USC, UC Berkeley and Pepperdine.
“That she’s having this much trouble against this field, against such a little-known field of opponents, bodes very, very poorly for her,” Schnur stated. “The only thing saving her at this point is that the top tier of potential candidates who were considering running against her decided to stay out of this race.”
The mayoral race solidified in early February, when Raman shocked the political establishment by leaping in in opposition to her ally Bass, hours earlier than the submitting deadline.
By that point, different well-known politicians, together with billionaire developer Rick Caruso and L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, had opted to remain out of the race. Former Los Angeles colleges Supt. Austin Beutner dropped out following the demise of his 22-year-old daughter.
Those choices have left Angelenos with a field of candidates they hardly know. While they’ve sturdy views about Bass, barely greater than half of these polled stated they didn’t know sufficient about Raman to have an opinion. Even extra voters have been unfamiliar with the different candidates.
Bass was on a diplomatic journey to Ghana when the Palisades fireplace ignited on Jan. 7, 2025, killing 12 folks and destroying 1000’s of houses. She was unsteady in her preliminary public appearances and has since come beneath assault by Pratt, Caruso and others over the LAFD’s management of the fire and the tempo of the restoration in addition to allegations that she ordered an after-action report on the fireplace to be watered down.
Bass’ marketing campaign has pointed to declining homelessness and crime as amongst the successes of her first time period as mayor.
“It’s clear Angelenos are frustrated by decades of inaction on major issues,” Douglas Herman, a spokesperson for the Bass marketing campaign, stated in a press release. “This campaign will show that it’s Karen Bass who changed the direction on these issues and that others running responded with reports while Karen Bass took action.”
Raman, who represents Los Feliz and elements of Silver Lake and the San Fernando Valley, was seen favorably by 26% of these polled and unfavorably by 23%. The 51% who stated they didn’t have an opinion of her might be a sign that she has but to develop her identify recognition citywide.
She has stated that her choice to run was pushed partially by her frustration with metropolis leaders’ incapability to get the fundamentals proper, akin to fixing streetlights and paving streets.
“I am very grateful that our campaign to make our city more affordable is resonating with so many Angelenos,” she stated in a press release.
Former City Councilmember Mike Bonin, who runs the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State L.A., stated that after the shock of Raman’s entry into the race, the mayoral marketing campaign has taken on a sleepier tempo.
“Candidates are raising money and doing their due diligence … but it’s felt like a staid, quiet race,” he stated. “This poll reflects that.”
Bonin stated the most vital quantity is the hole between Raman and Pratt.
If no candidate will get greater than 50% of the vote in the main, the prime two finishers will proceed to a November run off. According to Bonin, Raman and Pratt will seemingly be jockeying to face off in opposition to Bass.
“While voters are clearly looking for an alternative [to Bass], they haven’t chosen one,” Bonin stated.
The poll confirmed Bass — the metropolis’s first feminine mayor and first Black feminine mayor — with sturdy assist from Black voters, at 43%, whereas Raman has 6%.
Raman, who if elected could be the metropolis’s first South Asian mayor, leads with Asian and Pacific Islander voters at 34%, with Bass at 10%.
Bass performs higher with older voters, whereas Raman and Huang are interesting to youthful voters, the poll discovered. Huang led the pack at 19% with voters between 18 and 29 years outdated.
In the poll, Angelenos ranked their prime priorities for the subsequent mayor to handle. Building extra inexpensive housing got here in first, adopted by fixing streets, sidewalks and streetlights after which transferring homeless Angelenos indoors.
One potential vivid spot for Bass was policing.
The poll discovered that 39% of Angelenos suppose the LAPD wants to extend in dimension, with 29% saying the division ought to keep the identical dimension and 19% saying it ought to shrink.
Bass has called on the City Council to rent extra law enforcement officials.
Raman, in the meantime, has stated that she believes the police power is the right size at round 8,700 officers, down from a peak of 10,000 in 2020.
“Bass is going to make Raman look like AOC’s liberal sister,” stated Schnur, referring to progressive U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). “If she ends up in a runoff against Raman, she can run as a tough-on-crime centrist.”
