Bass, Raman Nearly Tied In Final Days Of LA Mayor's Primary, Poll Shows

LOS ANGELES, CA — With only one day left before voting in California's primary elections ends, a new poll shows incumbent Mayor Karen Bass fighting to maintain her lead against her Democratic challenger Nithya Raman, a former ally who supported Bass' first bid for mayor.

The poll released Thursday showed Bass holding a 1 percent edge over her progressive rival, with 26 percent of support among likely voters, and Raman gaining 25 percent of support. That one percent lead is well within the poll's 3 percent margin of error. The poll was conducted by the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and commissioned by The Los Angeles Times.

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The Berkeley Institute poll surveyed 1,351 likely Los Angeles voters from May 19 t0 May 24.

Most credible polls have shown former reality television star Spencer Pratt trailing Bass and Raman throughout the Los Angeles mayor's race, including the Berkeley poll showing the Republican trailing Raman with 22 percent of support.

The Trump-backed candidate's home burned in the Pacific Palisades wildfire last year, and it's been a focus of his campaign against Bass who was widely criticized for visiting Ghana when the blaze erupted.

In a poll conducted by Berkeley Institute in March, Bass held about 25 percent of support, but Raman has expanded her share, up from 17 percent of support from likely voters.

The same poll found 63 percent of voters said Los Angeles is on "the wrong track," and only 24 percent who believe the city is headed in the right direction.

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Bass' campaign pushed back against the latest polls, telling Politico an internal poll showed Bass leading the race with the support of 38 percent of voters, followed by Raman with 24 percent, and Pratt with 22 percent.

In heavily Democratic Los Angeles, Bass’ shaky first term has left her vulnerable. She pointed to a drop in homelessness, though encampments and rows of rusting RVs remain a common sight in many neighborhoods.

The mayor has focused her reelection on the progress that has been made such a decrease in street homelessness, which she leaned into on a livestream on Instagram Saturday before going after her opponent, Pratt.

“You have a failed reality TV star who wants to be famous,” she told two actresses on the livestream, before seemingly referencing President Donald Trump. “We know what it means if you put somebody who is a reality TV star in a seat of power.”

Saturday on X, formerly known as Twitter, Pratt attacked Raman, the city councilwoman, who both Pratt and Bass have, in different ways, tried to paint as too progressive.

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Raman's campaign is partly focused on affordability and infrastructure. Both Raman and Pratt have attacked Bass for her response to the wildfires, though their recent posts have been directed at each other.

In a video posted to Instagram Saturday, Raman cited a recent poll. “After millions of dollars of spending against us, we are still here, and we are still competitive,” she said, before asking people to vote ahead of Tuesday.

Voting centers in Los Angeles County opened on Monday at 10 a.m., and will re-open at 7 a.m. on Tuesday.

With more than a dozen names on the ticket, the leading two mayoral candidates in Tuesday's primary election are likely to face each other in a runoff to become Los Angeles' next mayor in November.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.