In late October, I fell into a conversation with Susie Tho after an appearance by Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman at the Mid-Wilshire restaurant Gritz N Wafflez. Tho, a mom and an entrepreneur, told me she voted for former reality show star Spencer Pratt, a Republican, in the city’s June primary. She attended the Raman event, she said, because she’s still undecided on who to support in the upcoming election.
Tho’s indecision highlights the unsettled state of the mayoral race in America’s second-largest city. Polls show that the race is tightening — and that many voters still appear less than enthusiastic about their choices. Do they go with unpopular incumbent Karen Bass, who swears she has really, really learned her lesson since the 2025 Palisades fire? Or do they pull a lever for Raman, the younger, left-wing challenger aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America, who radiates earnestness but is often verbally flat-footed and struggles to get along with her fellow City Council members.
It’s hard to know where the trouble with Los Angeles starts, or how it will be fixed.
It’s no small irony that in this famously liberal city, the answer will come down to Pratt voters like Tho. The candidate continues to maintain an outsize presence in the race, still rage-posting about the Palisades fire, where he — along with thousands of other city residents — lost his home. He seems to despise both Bass and Raman; “Dumb and Dumber” is one of the more polite ways he has described his former rivals.
But Pratt has also given voice to a long unspoken anger almost all Angelenos, no matter their political leanings, feel with the city’s direction — or, more properly, perhaps, lack of direction. Tho, for instance, cites a growing rat problem in her Koreatown neighborhood. And the pest issue is just the tip of the iceberg. “Sanitation’s horrible, homelessness is horrible. Businesses are closing and the community is kind of tired of it,” she said.
It’s hard to know where the trouble with Los Angeles starts, or how it will be fixed. Despite a surge of spending, homelessness increased last year (after two years of declines). More than $2 billion in funds to address the issue went missing. While Hollywood struggles, the state of New York is on the verge of overtaking California on film production spending. Average response time for 911 calls is woeful: More than 40% of emergency calls go unanswered within the state-mandated 15 seconds, and less urgent calls can take up to an hour to reach an operator.
Basic maintenance is lacking: Water mains break constantly; street repaving, in this city of drivers, is all but nonexistent. The people mover at Los Angeles International Airport, originally scheduled for completion in 2023, is more than $1 billion over budget and still MIA — unless, that is, you count the endless test runs of an empty train.
Cronyism, questionable dealings and incompetence are all but endemic.The local zoo, the last major U.S. zoo run by a city government, is mired in scandal and near collapse.
Even the city’s famously lovely weather has failed to cooperate. This year’s “super” El Nino has brought unprecedented humidity and mosquitos — the latter a true menace in a region where, until the past few years, mosquitoes were so rare many homes had no screens on their windows. The heat wave, in turn, resulted in epic power bills, which are hitting mailboxes now.
Raman, who moved to Los Angeles in 2013, sometimes shows a remarkable unfamiliarity with the city she now wants to lead.
Residents find themselves wondering how it all went wrong. Comedian Heidi Prazloff voted for Bass in 2022, but is now casting her ballot and knocking on doors for her opponent. “LA could be the coolest city in the world, but it feels like nothing is changing and some change would be really good,” she told me when I ran into her at an Eagle Rock pastry shop as she was taking a break from canvassing for Raman. “Karen Bass has been given her chance.”
Bass appeared all but oblivious to the growing fury and despair — until, that is, Pratt attracted a following and Raman entered the race. It took her more than two years to appoint a film liaison for the city, during a period when two Hollywood guilds went on strike and film shoots fell off a cliff. She announced a plan to help expedite restaurant permitting this week; as one X user asked, “Did she just remember she was the mayor?”
Raman is campaigning on increased accountability and an Elizabeth Warren-esque enthusiasm for plans: to make film-shoot permits easier to obtain, and to make it easier to open and operate restaurants and to build housing. These plans impressed me enough that I made a donation to her campaign during the primary.
But Raman, who moved to Los Angeles in 2013, sometimes shows a remarkable unfamiliarity with the city she now wants to lead. During a recent debate, for instance, she praised the policing under former police chief Daryl Gates, whose tenure was marked by mass arrests and brutal treatment of Black and Hispanic residents. A number of her current constituents say her City Council office is unresponsive, something Bass points out repeatedly. And her plan to address homelessness — which includes backtracking on the city’s crackdown on encampments near schools — is highly unlikely to appeal to Pratt voters.
It’s also worth noting that not one of Raman’s colleagues on the council has endorsed her, including the other three members aligned with the DSA. Then again, at least in my experience, the typical Angeleno appears to think of their City Council member as someone who isn’t there for them, so this may well turn out to be a selling point for Raman.
The DSA itself also has become something of a wild card in the equation. The national organization is threatening to rescind the Los Angeles chapter’s endorsement of Raman over the fact it believes she needs to more explicitly endorse the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. The local chapter continues to support her — hardly a surprise in a city where voters say their top concerns are quality of life, affordability and getting a grip on the seemingly intractable homelessness problem.
Ultimately, many Los Angeles voters appear to be weighing a less-than-pleasant choice: Do they stick with the known quantity in the ineffectual Bass, or do they vote for Raman, even if they disagree with her left-leaning politics, in the hopes she can make positive change? The only thing that seems certain is that no matter the outcome, Pratt will remain a virtual thorn in the winner’s side.
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