Nithya Raman, Kerala-born councillor, leads Karen Bass in LA mayor count
By Priya NairLeadership & Growth Editor, Peepals Shakti
Representative image: congerdesign / Pixabay
Kerala-born councillor Nithya Raman led Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass 405,193 votes to 379,069 in the count reported on 4 November 2026.
What Happened
Nithya Raman, a Los Angeles city councillor who was born in Kerala, is leading Mayor Karen Bass in the race to run America's second-largest city, as votes from the election of Tuesday, 3 November 2026, continue to be counted. In the count reported on Wednesday, 4 November, Raman had 405,193 votes, or about 52%, against 379,069, or about 48%, for Bass. Bass led on election night, but the lead flipped in the early hours of Wednesday as more ballots were counted. The election data company Decision Desk HQ has projected Raman as the winner, but other outlets said the race had not yet been called, and Los Angeles County says its results remain preliminary while late-arriving mail ballots are processed. No concession from Bass had been reported.
Key Facts
- Race: mayor of Los Angeles; election day was Tuesday, 3 November 2026.
- Latest reported count: Raman 405,193 votes (about 52%), Bass 379,069 (about 48%).
- Bass led on election night; Raman moved ahead early on Wednesday, 4 November.
- Decision Desk HQ projects Raman as the winner; other outlets had not called the race.
- Raman was born in Kerala, moved to the United States with her family at the age of six, and studied at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- She worked for seven years in India on informal settlements in Chennai and Delhi before entering Los Angeles politics.
- She won a seat on the Los Angeles City Council in 2020; her district includes Silver Lake and Los Feliz.
Why It Matters
If the lead holds, Raman would unseat a sitting mayor in one of the most closely watched local contests in the United States. The mayor of Los Angeles shapes city policy on housing, policing and homelessness. Raman, described in reports as a democratic socialist, built her career on housing and homelessness. She co-founded a neighbourhood homelessness coalition in 2017 before being elected to the council.
The result would also mark a significant moment for women of Indian origin in American politics. Raman's path, from a childhood move from Kerala to the United States, to urban planning work with poor communities in Chennai and Delhi, to city politics in Los Angeles, is unusual for a big-city mayoral candidate.
The race has been contested on more than policy. Earlier in the campaign, Raman filed complaints over an artificial-intelligence voice clone used in the contest, a case that drew attention to the use of AI in elections.
Counting in California is slow because many voters post their ballots, and late-arriving mail ballots are still processed after election day. That is why leads can change after election night, as this one did. Until the county certifies the result, both campaigns will watch each new update.
Peepals calculation: In the count reported on 4 November, about 784,000 votes had been counted for the two candidates (405,193 + 379,069 = 784,262). Raman's lead was 26,124 votes, and her share of the two-candidate vote was about 51.7% (405,193 ÷ 784,262 ≈ 0.517). Our calculation from the reported figures.
| Los Angeles mayor count (reported 4 November 2026) | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Nithya Raman | 405,193 | about 52% |
| Karen Bass | 379,069 | about 48% |
| Raman's lead | 26,124 | about 3.3 points |
Impact
Short-term: Further vote updates from Los Angeles County will show whether Raman's lead holds or grows. Bass may wait for more ballots before deciding whether to concede.
Long-term: A Raman win would bring a council member known for housing and homelessness work to the top job in a city where both issues dominate politics, and would make her one of the most prominent elected officials of Indian origin in the United States.
Who is affected: Los Angeles residents, city employees and agencies, housing and homelessness groups, and Indian-American communities who are following her campaign.
What to watch next: Los Angeles County's later vote updates as late mail ballots are counted, and whether Karen Bass concedes.
Key Takeaway
Kerala-born councillor Nithya Raman leads Mayor Karen Bass by about 26,000 votes in the Los Angeles mayor count, with one data firm projecting her win and others waiting for more ballots.
Questions and Answers
Who is winning the Los Angeles mayor race?
In the count reported on 4 November 2026, Nithya Raman led Mayor Karen Bass by 405,193 votes to 379,069, about 52% to 48%. Decision Desk HQ projected Raman as the winner, but other outlets had not called the race.
Who is Nithya Raman?
She is a Los Angeles city councillor, elected in 2020, who was born in Kerala, moved to the United States at six, studied at Harvard and MIT, and worked in India on informal settlements in Chennai and Delhi.
Why is the Los Angeles result taking so long?
Many Californians vote by post, and ballots that arrive after election day are still counted. Los Angeles County says its results are preliminary until all ballots are processed.
Has Karen Bass conceded?
No concession had been reported as of 5 November 2026.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
By Priya Nair, Leadership & Growth EditorCovers Leadership & Growth and more for Peepals Shakti. All stories by Priya Nair
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Priya Nair is a pen name of the Peepals Global Editorial Team, which researches, fact-checks and publishes every story. The portrait is an illustration.
