Nithya Raman has ousted incumbent Karen Bass to become the next mayor of Los Angeles, the first sitting mayor to lose re-election since 2005.

Raman, a 45-year-old progressive city councilmember, was projected the winner by Decision Desk HQ, CBS News and NBC News, and the Associated Press called the race on Thursday after Bass conceded. With about three-quarters of ballots counted, Raman led 52 per cent to 48 per cent. County officials certify the results on 27 November, and Raman takes office on 14 December.

Bass, 73, made history in 2022 as the first woman elected mayor of Los Angeles. In her concession statement she said she had called Raman to congratulate her and was committed to "a smooth and seamless transition", defending her record on homelessness, housing and the wildfires that hit the city during her term.

Raman entered the race late, saying she was frustrated by how the city delivered basic services. "We have had enough of establishment politics," she told supporters on election night. "The days of our broken status quo are over."

A first for the city

Raman, born in India and raised in the United States from the age of six, becomes Los Angeles' 44th mayor. An urban planner with degrees from MIT and Harvard, she won her council seat in 2020 by defeating an incumbent and is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Her win means the two largest cities in the United States, New York and Los Angeles, will both be led by mayors of South Asian heritage — New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is also a democratic socialist. Raman has promised a first-day executive order to speed up housing approvals, and must now prepare the city for the Olympic Games in 2028.