Mayor Karen Bass spoke publicly for the first time since her election defeat one week ago when she visited the scene of an industrial business fire Tuesday in Vernon.
Speaking at the site of a fire that started Monday in the southern Los Angeles County community and flared up Tuesday, Bass was asked about the election result that saw her become the first incumbent mayor of Los Angeles to be ousted by a challenger since Jim Hahn lost to Antonio Villaraigosa in 2005.
Councilmember Nithya Raman, a former Bass political ally, was leading by double-digit percentage points in the latest vote count update Tuesday — one week after Election Day — and projected to become the city’s 44th mayor.
“The voters made a decision and democracy prevails,” Bass said. “I wish Nithya Raman the best of wishes because I have always been and will continue to be about the city of Los Angeles and what will help the city prosper.”
Bass was asked about what she believes led to her loss. She was widely viewed as the establishment candidate running against a more progressive challenger, who was endorsed by the Democratic Socialist of America-LA.
“I put the election in the context of the national scene,” Bass said. “To me, there was a wave and these waves happen. I’ve been around long enough to experience them, not where the necessarily affected me. But change waves happen where people are just frustrated. They just want change, they got it.”
Raman’s victory means Los Angeles will become one of three major U.S. cities that will be led by politicians with support of democratic socialists, including New York with Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Washington, D.C.’s Janeese Lewis George, who won the mayor’s race this week.
Nithya Raman returns to LA City Hall for her first council meeting since winning the mayor’s race. Annette Arreola reports for the NBC4 News at 6 a.m. on Nov. 10, 2026.
The loss was Bass’ first in an election for public office during her political career in Los Angeles, Sacramento and Washington, D.C.
Asked whether she plans to return to politics after leaving office when Raman is sworn in in December, Bass said, “Doubtful, but you know I have spent my entire life devoted to service, never thinking about what do I want to do personally. That moment is here.
“It was the greatest honor possible. The culmination of a life’s work. The issues I was working on as mayor are the issues I was working on years ago from the community perspective before I ever envisioned a life in politics.”
Nithya Raman’s lead over incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, continued to grow today with 97% of votes counted. Karma Dickerson reports for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026.
Bass was seeking a second term leading the second-largest city in the nation. She defeated real estate developer Rick Caruso in the 2022 election and had the endorsement of all but one of Raman’s colleagues on the Los Angeles City Council. Caruso said he planned to vote for Bass in this year’s election.
Born in Los Angeles, Bass is a 1982 graduate of the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program in 1982. She was a physician’s assistant who later started Community Coalition in response to the crack-cocaine epidemic and other issues before turning to politics.
Raman issued a statement last week, thanking Bass for her service to Los Angeles.
“I also wanted to pay tribute to Mayor Karen Bass,” Raman said. “Someone who has given decades of her life to making this city what it is today. From her time as an emergency room nurse to starting Community Coalition to her leadership in Sacramento and in D.C., and then becoming the first woman mayor of Los Angeles, she has served Los Angeles for so many decades, and I know that so many people, not just across this city but across this country, are grateful for her dedication to the promise of Los Angeles.”
Raman, of Silver Lake, was born in India and moved to the United States as a child. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Social Studies/Political Theory from Harvard University in 2003 and a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She co-founded the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition and also served in the Office of the city administrative Officer.
Before running for council, Raman was executive director of Time’s Up Entertainment. The group aims to combat sexual harassment in Hollywood.
Raman, who moved to LA about 13 years ago, is married to Vali Chandrasekaran, the TV writer and producer behind “Modern Family” and “30 Rock.”