A new poll shows Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in a tight race with challengers Nithya Raman and Spencer Pratt just days before the June primary, a strikingly weak position for the embattled incumbent that underscores deep voter dissatisfaction with the direction of the nation’s second-largest city.
Twenty-six percent of voters — that could include those who have already voted, plan to cast ballots or are undecided — indicated they support Bass, with 25 percent backing progressive City Councilmember Raman and 22 percent behind Pratt, a reality TV personality and registered Republican, according to toplines from a Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll commissioned by the Los Angeles Times.
The numbers are a warning sign for Bass that she has failed to expand her support amid broad frustration over the city’s direction. With nearly two-thirds of voters saying Los Angeles is on the wrong track, the poll suggests Bass is increasingly vulnerable in a race that once looked like hers to control — and indicates she is no longer on a glide path to advancing from the top-two primary.
The Times first reported the results of the poll, which surveyed 1,351 likely Los Angeles voters from May 19-24 and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
A large majority of voters — 63 percent — said things in their city are on the “wrong track,” while just 24 percent said they’re going in the “right direction.”
Mark DiCamillo, Berkeley IGS poll director, compared the results of the May poll to one conducted in March that showed Bass had support from 25 percent of voters, while 17 percent backed Raman and 14 percent were behind Pratt.
The polls show Bass “just standing in place while the other candidates are advancing,” DiCamillo said.
“If you think things are going in the right direction, you're strongly for Bass, you're definitely on Bass’ side,” DiCamillo said. “But the wrong track is where she's hemorrhaging, and she's getting it from both the left and the right.”
Bass’ favorability ratings are deeply underwater, with 35 percent of voters viewing her favorably and 57 percent unfavorably. Forty percent of voters hold a favorable view of Raman, while just 25 percent of voters viewed Pratt favorably.
Pratt, best known for his role on the reality TV show “The Hills,” has emerged as an unlikely political force by channeling voter anger over homelessness, public safety and the city’s wildfire response into a social media-fueled campaign. Pratt’s Pacific Palisades home burned in the January 2025 wildfire, and he has raised more than $3.3 million for his mayoral bid, in which he casts himself as a government outsider focused on crime and accountability.
Raman, the progressive councilmember, had been a longtime ally of Bass and had even endorsed her reelection campaign before making a surprise entrance into the race. Her campaign has also taken aim at what she describes as dysfunctional city government.
Bass’ campaign leaned heavily on her slight advantage in the polling, with adviser Doug Herman saying in a statement to POLITICO, “everyone knew this would be a close race, and it shows Karen Bass in the lead heading into Tuesday.”
The mayor’s campaign argued an internal poll from last week conducted by David Binder showed Bass in a much better position, with 38 percent of voters supporting her, 24 percent backing Raman and 22 percent behind Pratt.
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