LA Mayoral Race Turns on Police Chief's Future: Raman Says She Would Replace McDonnell; Bass Warns of Olympic Security Risks
Los Angeles is a city in Los Angeles County, California. With the Los Angeles mayoral election set for November 3, the race has entered its final three weeks, and incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and challenger Councilwoman Nithya Raman are clashing over the future of LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell.
McDonnell has led the Los Angeles Police Department since November 2024, with his term running through 2030. Raman had previously pledged publicly to replace McDonnell if elected mayor. But in an ABC7 interview that aired October 10, her message shifted. Speaking with reporter Marc Brown, Raman said replacing the chief was "not on my 100-day agenda," adding that her 100-day agenda was "restoring trust with our law enforcement and the public." At the same time, she said McDonnell had "not met this moment" and added, "I believe his term goes through 2030, if I'm not mistaken, and at that point I think I would be looking to appoint a new chief."
When Brown pressed her about Bass's warning that removing the chief ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics could be disastrous, Raman softened her stance, saying those were things she was "thinking about now" and would "weigh and consider" going forward.
But when The California Post asked for clarification on Saturday evening, Raman offered a different timeline. "Chief McDonnell is Mayor Bass's police chief. I have made it clear that I would seek a chief who can keep Angelenos safe and restore trust with our immigrant communities," she said. She pledged to work with the Police Commission and LAPD command staff on a "careful, orderly transition," adding, "Chief McDonnell's term ends in 2030 and I would expect to replace him prior to that."
The dispute began with a since-deleted campaign video from Raman's team bearing the words "Only you can stop fascist liars," with a large red X drawn across McDonnell's face. Bass publicly called the video "irresponsible," saying a mayor's number one job is keeping the city safe. McDonnell told NBC Los Angeles he was "disappointed," and disclosed that 52 officers were injured during the June 2025 immigration-enforcement protests.
Meanwhile, rumors that former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón could succeed McDonnell have circulated inside City Hall and among rank-and-file officers. Multiple law enforcement and political sources told the New York Post his name has come up. Raman said she did not know where the rumors originated and does not know Gascón personally.
The prospect has drawn strong pushback from law enforcement. Dennis Zine, a former city councilman and longtime LAPD officer, warned that appointing Gascón could trigger a mass exodus from the department. Councilwoman Traci Park said decisions on leadership "will absolutely directly impact" the department's already strained staffing. The Los Angeles Police Protective League's board of directors charged in a statement that Raman's public safety plan "consists of appointing the author of Proposition 47, George Gascón, to be our Chief of Police."
Notably, Raman voted to approve Bass's appointment of McDonnell in November 2024. Under his tenure, homicides in Los Angeles have fallen to their lowest level since 1966.
(Sources: New York Post, October 10 and 12; ABC7; The California Post)
Related:
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，Another Believer 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0 授权
- 2026-10-12LA Mayoral Race Turns on Police Chief's Future: Raman Says She Would Replace McDonnell; Bass Warns of Olympic Security RisksThis story
- 2026-10-23LA Mayor's Race: Raman Says Legal Experts Assure She Could Vote on Hollywood Measures as Mayor; Bass Campaign Pushes Back
- 2026-11-02Follow-Up: Los Angeles Mayor's Race Tied at 40% on Final Day, Bass and Raman Neck and Neck
