The field of candidates vying to lead Los Angeles came into sharper focus this week amid an unusually volatile stretch in the mayoral race, as late entries, abrupt exits, last-minute decisions by prominent potential challengers, and renewed scrutiny of City Hall reshuffled the political landscape just days before the filing deadline.
That churn intensified in the race’s final hours. Early Saturday, City Councilmember Nithya Raman entered the contest just hours before the noon cutoff. Late Friday night, Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath announced she would stay out of the race, closing the door on another long-speculated candidacy.
As of late Friday afternoon, 38 candidates had filed declarations of intention to run for mayor and challenge Mayor Karen Bass, who is seeking a second term in the June 2 primary election, according to the City Clerk’s office. More developments were expected before the filing period closed at noon Saturday.
The unusually crowded field reflects broader tensions facing the city — from wildfire recovery and homelessness to public safety, affordability and trust in government — as well as lingering questions about Bass’ leadership after a year marked by crisis.
Much of the late movement followed renewed criticism of Bass’ handling of the Palisades fire, which prompted shifting calculations among potential challengers and a flurry of activity across the field.
Raman, who represents the Fourth District and chairs the City Council’s homeless and housing committee, has emerged as one of the city’s most progressive voices on housing and homelessness. First elected to the Council in 2020, her current term runs through 2028, meaning she would retain her council seat even if unsuccessful in a mayoral bid.
Horvath, by contrast, ruled out a run late Friday night, saying she would instead focus on her reelection campaign for the Board of Supervisors.
“I’m choosing not to run for mayor and instead to focus on my reelection for Los Angeles County Supervisor,” Horvath said in a video posted on X at 9:53 pm Friday, “not because I’m stepping away from a challenge. I’m stepping even more into the one we’ve already started.”
Her decision followed a similar reversal earlier in the week by billionaire and real estate developer Rick Caruso, who ruled out a bid Thursday, just one day after publicly signaling he was reconsidering another run.
“Rick is incredibly moved by the outpouring of support but reached an earlier decision in a thoughtful process and it stands,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “He will not be a candidate for mayor.”
Caruso, who lost to Bass in 2022 after a well-funded campaign, had briefly reopened the possibility of a rematch after reporting by the Los Angeles Times this week alleged that Bass directed changes to a Los Angeles Fire Department after-action report on the Palisades fire in ways that downplayed failures by the city and the department — an allegation Bass has repeatedly denied.
His decision closed the door on a rematch that many political observers viewed as one of the most formidable challenges to the incumbent.
That same day, former Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner announced he was ending his campaign following the death of his 22-year-old daughter. Beutner, who led the nation’s largest school district from 2018 to 2021, had been widely seen as another serious contender with the ability to force a runoff in the June primary.
In his statement departing the race, Beutner said Los Angeles is “a special place”, but warned that “every day it’s becoming less affordable, less safe and a more difficult place to live,” arguing that the city’s challenges will require new ideas and leadership capable of implementing changes.
Elsewhere this week, tech executive and homelessness nonprofit co-founder Adam Miller moved to enter the race, adding to an already crowded field.
But Bass remains the race’s central figure — and its most scrutinized.
Her reelection bid comes after a first term defined by a series of overlapping crises, including homelessness, the immigration enforcement raids, public safety concerns, and the Palisades fire that erupted last January, killing 12 people and destroying thousands of homes.
Bass has faced renewed criticism over the city’s handling of the fire. She was out of the country on a diplomatic trip when it ignited, and the response has since been the subject of multiple investigations, including a mayor-ordered examination of the fire department’s handling of the earlier Lachman fire, which later reignited into the Palisades fire.
Reporting by the L.A. Times this week alleged that Bass raised concerns that an early draft of the fire department’s after-action report could expose the city to legal liability, leading to changes that softened criticism of the city and the department’s response. Bass has vehemently denied the allegations, saying she only asked that the report be accurate on issues such as weather conditions and budget.
In a statement sent to reporters, the mayor’s office dismissed the reporting as “muckraking journalism,” emphasizing that Bass has publicly criticized the fire response, replaced LAFD leadership and called for additional accountability.
Beyond the fire, Bass has pointed to progress on homelessness as a central pillar of her reelection case, highlighting the Inside Safe initiative and declines in street homelessness in some parts of the city. Critics, however, argue that encampments remain widespread and that long-term housing production has not kept pace with demand.
On public safety, Bass has sought to strike a balance between reform and enforcement, backing expanded police hiring while also emphasizing alternatives to incarceration. She has also drawn praise from some quarters for her response to federal immigration raids, publicly confronting Trump administration officials and positioning herself as a defender of immigrant communities.
At the same time, the Palisades fire and ongoing concerns over affordability and quality of life have continued to shape the political environment as the field of challengers takes shape.
But while Bass has taken a political hit following the Palisades fire, Zev Yaroslavsky, a former Los Angeles County supervisor and longtime political observer, cautioned against reading too much into approval ratings in a crowded field.
“Even if she’s not as popular as she’d like to be, once she’s got a real live opponent or opponents, she will be measured against those opponents, not against the ideal,” he said in an interview Friday. “And I wouldn’t write her political obituary.”
Beyond Bass, the race now includes a crowded and ideologically diverse field of challengers who have already filed to run.
Rae Chen Huang, a housing rights advocate and ordained pastor, has emerged as one of the most left-leaning candidates in the race, calling for sweeping changes to the city’s housing, public safety and governance systems. Her campaign has emphasized aggressive affordability measures, tenant protections and a more transparent City Hall, while leaning heavily on grassroots organizing and progressive voter outreach.
Spencer Pratt, a reality television personality who lost his home in the Palisades fire, has also filed to run for mayor, framing his candidacy around frustration with the city’s response to the wildfire and broader concerns about quality of life and the lack of infrastructure. Pratt has argued that the disaster exposed systemic failures in preparedness and accountability, and has cast himself as an outsider voice for residents who feel let down by City Hall.
Adam Miller, a tech executive and nonprofit founder, also entered the race this week, pitching himself as an outsider to elective office with experience spanning business, technology and homelessness policy. Miller founded and led Cornerstone OnDemand, a workforce education company he took public before it was sold in 2021 for $5.2 billion, and later launched Better Angels, a nonprofit focused on homelessness prevention, services and housing.
Beyond the higher-profile contenders, dozens of lesser-known candidates have filed paperwork to run, underscoring the unusually crowded nature of the race. Those filings include Asaad Alnajjar, an engineering manager with the City of Los Angeles; Tish Hyman, a musician and entrepreneur; and Juanita Lopez, a political scientist — among candidates from a wide range of professional and civic backgrounds.
Yaroslavsky said the coming months will determine whether any challenger can gain traction.
“An election is a job interview,” he said. “The people are the employers, and they’re going to take a look at this interview, and they’re going to say: ‘who do I really trust, who do I really believe has what it takes, and that’s what the campaign is about.”
After the deadline passes, no new candidates may enter the race or withdraw their declarations. Candidates must still qualify for the ballot by submitting nominating petitions by March 4, and may withdraw later by pulling those petitions by March 9. The City Clerk’s office said the current list reflects those who have declared their intent to run, not the final, certified ballot.
The official list of candidates will be released after the petition period ends on March 4, per the City Clerk’s office.
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