Mayor Karen Bass’ campaign team criticized the results of a new poll Wednesday that showed City Councilwoman Nithya Raman holding a sizable lead in the mayor’s race.
Raman received 39% of support from likely voters to Bass’ 28%, with about 33% of those surveyed undecided, according to the survey of 2,150 likely voters conducted by UC Berkeley and co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times. The poll was conducted from Sept. 15-20 and has a margin of error of about 3%, according to The Times.
The newspaper reported that the large number of undecided voters can be attributed to the fact that Spencer Pratt, a reality television personality and onetime mayoral candidate, was knocked out of the race in the June 2 primary. In the primary, Bass received 34% of the votes followed by Raman with 29%, and Pratt with 26%.
Some 63% of voters who supported Pratt have not decided who will they support in the Nov. 3 election. Among those voters, 22% favored Bass compared with 16% for Raman, The Times reported Wednesday.
The results also found that likely voters had unfavorable views of Bass, partly stemming from her response to the January 2025 Palisades Fire.
Survey results showed that 56% of likely voters thought the incumbent did a poor or very poor job responding to the fire emergency compared to 14% and 17% of likely voters who thought Bass did an excellent or good job, or at least a fair job.
The fire killed 12 people, destroyed thousands of homes and structures, and decimated the seaside community.
Bass had a 63% unfavorable rating in the poll, while 28% of likely voters had favorable views of her and 9% had no opinion. Of those surveyed, 40% had a favorable view of Raman, 39% had unfavorable views and the remaining 21% had no opinion.
The poll also found Raman had captured larger support from younger voters versus Bass, who received more support from older voters.
Raman, 45, received 66% of support from likely voters ages 18 to 29, while 4% supported Bass, according to the poll. The councilwoman received 64% support of likely voters ages 30 to 39 compared to Bass who had 12% of support from that same age group. Raman also led in support among likely voters ages 40 to 49, and 50 to 64, though only with a 2% lead in this demographic.
Bass, however, received 41% support from likely voters ages 65 and up with Raman receiving 21% from this demographic. Raman had larger support in the northeast and east side of Los Angeles, according to The Times.
Polling results showed Raman leading in most areas of the city, though Bass had larger support in South Los Angeles and the Harbor Area. In the San Fernando Valley, Raman had the support of 34% of likely voters, Bass had 26% and about 40% were still undecided. The Westside was nearly a deadlock, with 35% of likely voters supporting Raman and 34% backing Bass.
Bass’ campaign issued a statement noting that previous polls have placed Bass in the lead over Raman. They also said online-only surveys consistently struggle to recruit voters who represent a true sample of Los Angeles’ electorate. The mayor’s campaign said online-only surveys undercount working-class families, seniors and non-English speaking communities that turn out on Election Day.
The campaign said many news organizations misread voters prior to the primary, “and undercounted Karen Bass’ support while estimating that progressive candidate Rae Huang would get triple the support she ultimately did.”
“One outlier poll which got the June primary wrong isn’t reflective of the energy we see when talking to voters every day and what every other poll indicates — this is going to be a close race,” Bass campaign spokesman Alex Stack said in a statement. “Our campaign is continuing to do our job: contrasting Mayor Bass’ record of delivering results on housing, public safety, and neighborhood investment with Nithya Raman’s out-of-step views on allowing encampments near schools and failing to show up for her constituents.”
A representative for Raman’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Raman scheduled a 3 p.m. news conference near downtown LA to discuss the findings.
You could tell Bass’ career was over when she blew off questions about flying to Africa during the fire.