Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass currently leads in her reelection race despite having an over 50 percent disapproval rating among likely voters. A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times found that Bass leads the race with 25 percent of support from likely voters, followed by City Councilmember Nithya Raman at 17 percent and reality TV star Spencer Pratt (The Hills) at 14 percent. Roughly a quarter of voters remain undecided. The poll also found that 56 percent of likely voters had an unfavorable view of the mayor, while only 31 percent viewed her favorably.
Dan Schnur, politics professor at USC, UC Berkeley, and Pepperdine, said the poll is “borderline catastrophic” for Bass despite her lead. “That she’s having this much trouble against this field, against such a little-known field of opponents, bodes very, very poorly for her,” Schnur said. “The only thing saving her at this point is that the top tier of potential candidates who were considering running against her decided to stay out of this race.” The poll comes after several sources confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that Mayor Karen Bass ordered the watering down of the after-action report to provide a smoother picture than what happened following the devastating Palisades Fire of early 2025.
