NBC News Projects Raman Defeats Bass to Become Los Angeles Mayor; Latest Count Puts Raman at 429,450 Votes, 52.10%
LOS ANGELES, California — NBC News projected on November 5, 2026, that Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman has defeated incumbent Mayor Karen Bass to become the city's next mayor. Decision Desk HQ and CBS News made the same projection. The Associated Press has not called the race.
The latest update from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk on Thursday morning showed Raman with 429,450 votes, or 52.10 percent, and Bass with 394,796 votes, or 47.90 percent, a margin of 34,654 votes, with 76 percent of the expected vote counted. That widened Raman's lead from the Wednesday 4:28 p.m. update, when she had 405,193 votes, or 51.67 percent, to Bass's 379,069, or 48.33 percent, a margin of 26,124 votes.
The count has moved steadily in Raman's favor since election night. Bass led by about 10,600 votes at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3; by the 3:11 a.m. Wednesday update, Raman was ahead by 16,594 votes, and every update since has widened her margin.
Raman, 45, is a two-term city councilmember and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. She announced her challenge to Bass, once a political ally, in February 2026, finished second in the June primary with 29 percent of the vote, and advanced to the November runoff with Bass, who led the primary with 34 percent. Bass was seeking a second term as mayor. If the projection holds, it would be the first time since 2005 that an incumbent Los Angeles mayor has lost re-election. Raman is to be sworn into office on December 14 for a four-year term.
The county elections office will continue posting daily count updates, and results are scheduled to be certified by November 27. Under California law, mail ballots postmarked by Election Day and received within seven days will still be counted.
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Source: NBC News
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：洛杉矶市政厅。Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0。 / Photo: Los Angeles City Hall. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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