Karen Bass conceded the Los Angeles mayoral election to City Councilwoman Nithya Raman on Thursday after a close race.
“While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken. I have called Councilmember Nithya Raman to congratulate her on her victory, and I have committed to ensuring a smooth and seamless transition,” Bass wrote in a social media post on Thursday. “Moving this city forward is what Los Angeles needs from all of us. I love Los Angeles. I believe in Los Angeles. And I will continue to ensure the promise of a better life belongs to all of us.”
On Tuesday night, Bass led a crowd of supporters in chants of “four more years,” when she initially held a slim lead, at her election watch party in Hollywood.
The incumbent candidate appeared confident in the election’s outcome at the time as she spoke about her efforts to address the homelessness crisis and build affordable housing in the city, standing alongside her family on stage at the Loews Hotel ballroom.
Bass rallied supporters, discussing the overwhelming democratic victory across the country. She thanked Angelenos for coming out to vote, saying L.A. is the greatest city in the world, and described the city as one that “despite all of the challenges, still holds extraordinary promise.”
“As we await for the votes to be counted, there is one thing I can tell you with absolute certainty, I have never been more proud of our city, more grateful for its people or more hopeful about what we can accomplish together,” Bass said.
Despite Bass’ early lead on election night, Raman took the lead on Wednesday and was projected to win on Thursday.
Bass was endorsed by Vice President Kamala Harris, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, outgoing California Governor Gavin Newsom, as well as labor leaders, and was considered the more moderate of the two candidates. Raman, who was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, ran on a more left-leaning platform than Bass, arguing that L.A. had enough of “establishment politics” at her election watch party at the Greek Theatre on Tuesday night.
Throughout her campaign, Raman criticized the effectiveness of Bass’ Inside Safe program, aiming to address homelessness in the city. Bass addressed the issue in her speech on Tuesday, saying her administration had “taken on the most difficult challenges facing any major city.”
“We have worked to bring people off the streets, to make our neighborhoods safer, to build more housing, and to create more opportunities for working families,” Bass said. “We have faced devastating wildfires, and we stood together when Donald Trump sent federal troops into our city, and tried to turn our immigrant communities into targets of fear and intimidation.”
Bass argued, regardless of what the outcome of the election may have been, that the strength of a campaign is measured not only by its success but by the “people who bring it together, the values it stands for and the future it asks us to believe in,” Bass said, thanking her allies and supporters.
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