Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilwoman Nithya Raman will face off Wednesday evening in their first debate since advancing to the Nov. 3 mayoral runoff, with homelessness, housing, public safety and City Hall accountability expected to be among the issues discussed.
The debate, hosted by the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association and co-sponsored by the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council and Sherman Oaks/Encino Chamber of Commerce, was set for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Sherman Oaks East Valley Adult Center.
Bass finished first in the June primary with 34.3% of the vote, followed by Raman with 29%. Reality television personality Spencer Pratt finished third with 25.5%, leaving both runoff candidates seeking to broaden their support ahead of the general election.
Bass is seeking a second term as mayor, while Raman, who has represented the Fourth Council District since 2020, is challenging the incumbent on issues including homelessness, the cost of living and delivery of basic city services.
Homelessness is expected to be a major issue in the campaign. Raman has pointed to a decline in unsheltered homelessness in her council district while arguing that City Hall needs a different approach to addressing the crisis.
Bass has defended her administration’s record on homelessness and public safety, pointing to efforts to move people from encampments into interim housing, accelerate housing construction and reduce crime.
The debate comes as the candidates have increasingly clashed over Bass’ record and Raman’s proposals.
Raman on Tuesday criticized Bass for delaying a planned street safety project on Forest Lawn Drive, while Bass’ campaign countered that the original plan was opposed by local businesses, faith leaders and community members and said the mayor is pursuing an alternative intended to improve bicycle safety while preserving traffic lanes.
The mayoral campaign was also roiled this week by the disclosure that a poll purporting to show Bass leading Raman by nearly 12 percentage points was fake.
Median Strategies, which had described itself as an independent polling and research firm, acknowledged Monday that it produced the purported survey as part of what it called a “short-term social experiment” examining how polling information could spread through the political information ecosystem without independent verification.
Bass’ campaign had shared the purported results on social media before the poll was revealed to be fake, but later deleted the post.
“This poll was reported on by multiple news outlets. Any bad faith attempts to influence elections should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” according to a statement from Bass’ campaign.
Raman’s campaign criticized Bass’ team for sharing the results without adequately vetting the polling company.
“It is the latest example of an administration that too often struggles to get the basics right,” Raman campaign spokesperson Liz Garcia said in a statement Monday.
When the Median Strategies survey came out, City Controller Kenneth Mejia, who won reelection in June by a wide margin, had criticized it and described it as a “push poll.” Mejia has endorsed Raman for mayor and is supporting her campaign.
“I had push polls that said I was going to lose by a landslide,” Mejia wrote on his social media accounts. “We ended up landsliding our opponent & set a record for most votes ever received in a LA primary.”