Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s bid for reelection is moving into a crowded, high-stakes phase as the deadline nears for candidates to file for the June 2 primary, where the top two finishers will advance to the general election under California’s system. Bass, a first-term Democrat and the first Black woman to serve as mayor, is confronting sustained criticism over City Hall’s handling of homelessness and street conditions, as well as controversy tied to last year’s deadly Palisades wildfire.
The contest will be shaped by voters’ concerns about everyday life in a city of nearly 4 million people, with complaints about the cost of living—rent, taxes and groceries—appearing alongside visible problems on sidewalks and streets. At the same time, the race is unfolding as ongoing Trump administration immigration raids have shaken the city, and recovery after the Palisades Fire, which destroyed part of the seaside community and killed 12 people in January 2025, is still under way.
Bass is now seeking political space for her case that she has a path forward for the city, including by looking ahead to the 2028 Olympics and plans to spruce up busy thoroughfares. In a speech earlier this month that outlined her vision, Bass said, “Even in this difficult chapter in our history, great events, moments of unity, are possible,” and added, “And they are coming.”
While the election is officially nonpartisan, it is drawing sharp political lines that go beyond party labels. The field includes tech entrepreneur and nonprofit founder Adam Miller; reality television personality Spencer Pratt; community organizer Rae Huang; and late entrant Nithya Raman, who was previously a supporter of Bass. The filing also means Bass’s reelection fight will not rely only on established Democratic opponents, and it comes as analysts expect an electorate that is unhappy with city government.
Spencer Pratt is among the most prominent nontraditional entrants, and the campaign’s profile has been described as aligning with Republican support in a city dominated by Democrats. Pratt is described as a Republican, and the AP account says he was endorsed by Steve Hilton, a Republican candidate for governor, and Richard Grenell, an ally of President Donald Trump. Pratt has also publicly connected his personal experience of the Palisades Fire to a broader argument about accountability, saying on his website that he watched his home burn “because the system failed us,” and adding, “We don’t need more government programs,” while calling for “common sense, accountability, and a mayor that shows up for everyone.”
Adam Miller, a Democrat running as an outsider, is presenting a different challenge to Bass that draws on his background in business and nonprofit work. The AP account says Miller founded Cornerstone OnDemand and later co-founded the Better Angels nonprofit to address homelessness, and it quotes him saying in a statement, “Los Angeles has extraordinary potential but too often City Hall hasn’t been there for the people who call it home.”
Rae Huang is also positioned as a more left-leaning alternative to Bass, with the AP describing her political stance to the left of the incumbent. Meanwhile, the AP account says Raman was a onetime Bass supporter before deciding to enter the race as a challenger, and it reports Bass’s campaign targeted her with a pointed criticism. Bass campaign adviser Douglas Herman said in a statement that, “The last thing Los Angeles needs is a politician who opposed cleaning up homeless encampments and efforts to make our city safer.”
Homelessness, housing conditions and public safety are central to the debate, with the AP reporting that the issue remains prominent even as studies indicate homelessness has slightly declined. Complaints also stretch to street conditions—dirty, pocked streets and sidewalks—and the sense that some jobs and economic activity, including Hollywood work, have been moving to more affordable locales over time.
A second major fault line runs through the fallout from the Palisades Fire and the scrutiny over how officials handled decisions during and after the blaze. The AP reports that Bass was on a trip to Ghana as the fire began raging through the Palisades neighborhood, and it describes her as defensive about her actions during and after the disaster. The Los Angeles Times has published a series of reports based on public records requests that the after-action report drafts included deletions and revisions intended to soften failures by City Hall and the department, and it says Bass’s office this week denied allegations in a Times story that she pushed for changes before publication to shield City Hall from potential legal action. Bass told reporters the account was “completely fabricated,” according to the AP summary.
The AP account also says the deadly blaze was ignited by remnants of a Jan. 1 fire that continued to smolder underground, and it reports that in October a 29-year-old man was arrested and charged with sparking the earlier fire. It also notes LAFD scrutiny about whether it properly extinguished the New Year’s Day blaze.
As Bass’s challengers enter the race, the field is also being defined by who is not running. The AP reports that former billionaire and longtime critic Rick Caruso decided not to run again after months of equivocation, and that Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath announced late Friday that she, too, would not enter the mayoral contest. Horvath said in a video posted on X that “It’s clear you want a different kind of leadership and you are ready to see change in your city,” while adding that her work on the county board was not finished.