Raman leads Bass by 24,000 votes as LAPD union warns of Armageddon
With 842,000 ballots still to be counted, the Los Angeles mayoral race remains too close to call despite the challenger's growing advantage.
By Leila Mansour ·
Los Angeles County continued processing ballots Wednesday, keeping the mayor's race in a state of uncertainty while challenger Nithya Raman extended her lead over incumbent Karen Bass.
At 4 p.m. Wednesday, Raman held 51.7% of the votes among the 67% of expected ballots counted from the city. Bass trailed with 48.3%. That margin represented a lead of approximately 24,000 votes for Raman. When polls closed Tuesday night, the self-described Democratic socialist had been behind by a few thousand votes.
Data from NBC News' decision desk indicated that specific batches of ballots favored Raman exclusively. At 2:48 p.m. Wednesday, the county added roughly 6,900 ballots to the tally, all of which went to Raman. Bass' campaign did not comment Wednesday, following a Tuesday night appearance where the mayor seemed energized.
The Los Angeles County Registrar's Office reported that 132,507 additional ballots were processed and counted since Election Night. The total count reached 2.27 million. Officials stated that 842,000 additional ballots remained to be processed, a figure that included 800,000 mail-in ballots. Projected voter turnout for the November election stood at 38.58%.
Jamie McBride, a leader of the Los Angeles police officers' union, expressed concern about Raman's potential victory. The union invested substantial resources in supporting Bass. McBride said the city must prepare for Armageddon if Raman takes office. He noted that the nation's third largest police department is already severely understaffed ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. McBride argued that Raman would not need to defund the police because officers would simply leave the department.
All 14 other members of the Los Angeles City Council endorsed Bass. Monica Rodriguez, a councilmember representing the San Fernando Valley, said the council would set aside personal feelings to work with the incoming administration. Rodriguez stated that her responsibility is to make thoughtful fiscal decisions rather than follow popular trends. She added that she is there to do what is right, not what is fun.
Raman's campaign representatives said they would issue a statement once more information was available. They expressed confidence that Raman would become the 44th mayor of Los Angeles once all votes were tallied.
