Nithya Raman flipped the Los Angeles mayor's race overnight, erasing Karen Bass's early lead and pulling ahead by more than 16,000 votes as of Wednesday, Nov. 4.

The latest figures from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's Office showed Raman with 377,458 votes, or 51.12%, compared with 360,864 votes, or 48.88%, for Bass, MyNewsLA reported.

The race has not been called.

For residents of Bel Air and Holmby Hills, the outcome will determine who oversees city services, housing policy and public safety across Los Angeles for the next four years.

How the lead flipped

Bass appeared to hold a slim advantage when polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3. At 9 p.m., she had 289,671 votes, roughly 10,000 more than Raman's 279,068, according to NBC Los Angeles. By 2 a.m. Wednesday, Raman had moved ahead by about 4,000 votes. Her lead kept growing through the morning.

KTLA reported that political experts pointed to Raman's support base of younger voters, who tend to cast ballots closer to Election Day, as a factor in the turnaround.

Ballot counting is expected to continue through the coming weeks, according to MyNewsLA. The LA County Registrar's office scheduled its next updates for 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Wednesday, NBC Los Angeles reported.

Election night scenes

Raman, 45, appeared before a crowd at the Greek Theatre Plaza in Griffith Park on Tuesday night. She told supporters that voters are demanding change.

"Hopelessness can be fatal for a city," Raman told the crowd, according to the Los Angeles Times. "But this campaign refused to accept that."

Bass, 73, addressed supporters at the Loews Hollywood Hotel. "I will always fight for the city that we deserve," she said, according to the Times.

What shaped the race

Bass took office in 2022. Her term was marked by scrutiny over her handling of the Palisades Fire in January 2025, which broke out while she was on a diplomatic trip to Ghana, KTLA reported. The fire destroyed thousands of homes and killed 12 people.

Bass secured 34.3% of the vote in the June 2 primary, according to PBS NewsHour. That made her the first Los Angeles mayoral incumbent to face a runoff since 2005.

Raman, a city councilmember since 2020, entered the race in February after initially endorsing Bass, the Times reported. She focused her campaign on affordable housing, renter protections and what she called a "broken city" under Bass. She is a member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll released in late October, co-sponsored by the Times, showed the two candidates tied at 40% support among likely L.A. voters. About a fifth of voters were still undecided.

Counting could stretch well into November, and the LA County Registrar's office planned to release updated tallies at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Wednesday.