Los Angeles is demanding radical change: audits of city programs, faster emergency response times and solutions to the city’s seemingly perpetual homelessness crisis.
When Nithya Raman first announced her bid for mayor, Angelenos began to wonder whether the councilmember representing the city’s 4th District could be their ticket to that change. A democratic socialist often compared to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Raman was outspoken about the failures of Los Angeles’ existing infrastructure, arguing that bureaucratic red tape was preventing city leaders from making meaningful improvements in their communities. And voters began to take notice.
But as the race for Los Angeles’ next mayor progressed and Election Day approached, the political scales shifted once again. Karen Bass and Raman are now neck and neck in a contest that could go either way.
Some Angelenos, however, say they don’t see much of a choice at all. Despite their campaign rhetoric and public disagreements, both candidates are Democrats who have spent years in positions of power – raising questions about why the changes they now promise weren’t made sooner.
So, in this “different candidates, familiar promises” election, where exactly do the two candidates stand apart? Here’s a breakdown of three major issues dividing Bass and Raman – and what their competing approaches could mean for Los Angeles.
Bass is a staunch supporter of Inside Safe, a housing-led initiative launched by the mayor in 2022. The program aims to address chronic street encampments and reduce homelessness by moving unhoused individuals into interim housing.
The mayor’s office claims the program has moved more than 6,500 unhoused individuals into temporary housing, permanently housed more than 1,500 Angelenos and addressed approximately 143 encampments across the city.
However, residents in neighborhoods where encampments have been cleared say tents often return just days after their removal. According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, approximately 30% of those who entered the Inside Safe program had returned to homelessness as of August 2026. An additional 12.7% had also returned to homelessness but remained connected with Inside Safe providers.
Raman has openly criticized Bass for spending hundreds of millions of dollars on Inside Safe, arguing that the program has failed to deliver lasting results. In her own district, Raman has reported an approximately 49% drop in the number of unsheltered individuals between 2025 and 2026.
Raman’s approach focuses on expanding targeted interim housing while prioritizing long-term housing solutions and tenant protections. Her office has expanded local shelter and interim housing capacity, bringing more than 500 people into interim housing and tripling the number of shelter beds in the district. She has also advocated for stronger tenant protections through the Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance and pushed to streamline affordable housing development.
The councilmember has faced criticism, however, for her stance on encampment enforcement. While Bass supports the city’s anti-camping law, Raman has repeatedly voted against expanding its use, including opposing Ordinance 4118 and related expansions that prohibit homeless encampments near sensitive areas such as schools, parks and daycare centers.
Raman has argued that these local bans and sweeps are a “band-aid” solution, pushing tents from one block to another without addressing the root of the problem.
Bass has taken a more supportive stance toward the current structure of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), aiming to maintain and expand its staffing. She has defended the police pay increases negotiated under her administration, and her 2026-27 budget calls for hiring 510 new officers.
Raman, who called for reducing police funding during the 2020 protests, has since shifted her approach. Rather than prioritizing expansion and additional hiring within the department, Raman has advocated for integrating more civilian responders into the city’s public safety infrastructure.
“Nithya has also been clear that she disagrees with how LAPD treated Angelenos protesting the ICE raids, including the use of tear gas,” Raman’s campaign team told Los Angeles earlier this month.
She has argued that trained civilian responders should handle more calls involving mental health, homelessness and other situations that do not require armed officers. In April 2025, she introduced a motion directing city officials to explore ways to reduce 911 response times through dedicated nonemergency operators and a separate dispatch system for unarmed crisis responders. The motion was approved unanimously by the City Council.
Where the two candidates are most fiercely divided, however, is over Police Chief Jim McDonnell, whom Bass appointed in 2024. At the time, Bass commended McDonnell, calling him “a leader, an innovator, and a change maker.”
Raman has accused the department under McDonnell’s leadership of being secretive, pointing to changes in the release of neighborhood crime statistics and citing a lack of transparency. She has also accused LAPD of cooperating with immigration enforcement and sharing data through fingerprint databases and automated license plate readers, including Flock cameras.
McDonnell and Bass have strongly disputed these accusations, maintaining that state law prohibits local police from cooperating with federal authorities on civil immigration enforcement.
If elected mayor, Raman has vowed to replace McDonnell, arguing that he has lost the trust of Angelenos, particularly within the immigrant community. Bass has repeatedly defended McDonnell and his integrity, arguing that removing the police chief so close to the 2028 Olympics could destabilize the department and leave the city unprepared.
Affordable housing remains one of the top priorities for Los Angeles voters. Both Raman and Bass have advocated for reducing housing costs and protecting renters, even working together to reduce allowable annual rent increases for rent-stabilized apartments.
As chair of the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, Raman introduced a motion in 2023 calling for an examination of the city’s 40-year-old rent stabilization formula. Bass later signed the updated Rent Stabilization Ordinance into law on Dec. 23, 2025.
Where the two diverge is over whether Los Angeles should prioritize preserving existing neighborhoods or allow greater housing density across the city, even if that means changing traditionally single-family neighborhoods.
One of Bass’ first moves as mayor was issuing Executive Directive 1 (ED 1), which streamlined city approvals for affordable housing projects. According to Bass’ campaign, the program has resulted in the approval of more than 18,000 affordable housing units.
While Bass initially presented ED 1 as a way to cut bureaucratic red tape and accelerate construction, she later amended the directive to exclude single-family zones and historic districts after homeowners raised concerns about projects in their neighborhoods.
Raman disagreed with the amendment.
As the only City Council member to support allowing certain controversial ED 1 developments to move forward, Raman argued that the city should not sacrifice affordable housing opportunities to appease neighborhood opposition. She has also argued that zoning restrictions in single-family neighborhoods make building affordable housing in her own district more challenging.
With LA28 quickly approaching, Bass has also advocated for expanding short-term rental opportunities, arguing that Los Angeles needs additional accommodations for the expected influx of visitors. She believes the rentals could generate millions of dollars in additional tax revenue for the city.
Raman, however, opposes loosening restrictions on short-term rentals, arguing that allowing more properties to become temporary accommodations could further diminish the city’s already limited housing supply and displace long-term renters.
She maintains that Los Angeles should prioritize housing for residents rather than turning residential properties into temporary accommodations for Olympic visitors.
The proposal has also attracted political scrutiny because Airbnb contributed $750,000 to an independent expenditure committee supporting Bass’ reelection campaign, according to LA Public Press.
Both Bass and Raman have promised to make Los Angeles safer and more affordable, but their approaches reveal two distinct visions for achieving those goals.
With the University of California, Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies finding the race tied, with 40% of polled voters supporting Raman and 40% supporting Bass, the outcome may hinge on the 19% of voters who remain undecided.
L.A. residents can find their nearest polling place on the L.A. County Registrar’s website.
The post Two Sides, One Coin: How Karen Bass and Nithya Raman Differ on Policy appeared first on LAmag.
