Razor-Thin Flip Rattles Los Angeles

November 5, 2026

Voters wearing masks at a polling station — Photo: SeventyFour / Shutterstock

With most ballots still being processed, Nithya Raman moved ahead of incumbent Karen Bass in the Los Angeles mayoral race based on the county’s latest official count updates.

Story Snapshot

County-reported returns showed Raman leading Bass as of the latest update.
Multiple outlets reported Raman’s lead grew across successive ballot drops.
Earlier tallies had Bass ahead before later counts flipped the margin.
California’s canvass runs up to 30 days, so the result is not yet certified.

Raman Pulls Ahead In County-Reported Returns

The Los Angeles County Registrar’s latest posted results showed Nithya Raman leading Karen Bass, with ABC7 citing 377,458 votes for Raman to 360,864 for Bass, a 51.1% to 48.9% edge when about 63% of expected votes were counted. The New York Times election tracker reflected the same share in that update window. News outlets described Raman as overtaking Bass and holding a narrow advantage as the count continued through the evening and into the next day.

ABC7 reported that Raman’s totals climbed across successive updates, widening a slim edge, while Bass also gained votes but at a slower rate. The Los Angeles Daily News later reported Raman at 405,193 to Bass’s 379,069, placing her ahead by more than twenty-six thousand votes at that snapshot in time. Reporters attributed the numbers to the county’s ongoing tabulation of vote-by-mail and other ballot categories released in scheduled batches.

Earlier Lead Changed As New Ballots Were Counted

The race saw swings as different ballots were processed. The Santa Cruz Sentinel noted Bass led 303,855 to 299,041 late on election night before later updates shifted the margin to Raman. Other coverage described the contest as a dead heat at points in the evening, reflecting how partial returns can favor one candidate depending on which ballot groups are reported first. This pattern is common in large jurisdictions that process many vote-by-mail ballots.

Media headlines varied with the timing of each update. NBC Los Angeles summarized Raman “holding an early lead,” while ABC7 framed the moment as “Raman overtakes Bass,” and the Los Angeles Times said she “narrowly leads”. Each description matched the data at publication time. Outlets also cautioned that many ballots had not yet been counted, and that the race had not been projected during those updates.

Why California Counts Take Weeks To Finish

California law provides up to 30 days for counties to complete the official canvass, which includes verifying signatures, reconciling ballots, and counting late-arriving vote-by-mail and provisional ballots that meet legal standards. The Secretary of State explained that counties are required to continue processing and reporting during this period, and totals can change as more valid ballots are added to the count. Los Angeles County’s guidance also notes thousands of ballots are handled after election night.

These rules mean an election-night lead does not settle a race. Officials start the canvass by the Thursday after the election and work until all eligible ballots are processed, producing certified results at the end of the period. Voters often see shifts as vote-by-mail batches arrive and are verified. That is why news organizations flagged the mayoral contest as ongoing even as Raman’s advantage expanded in several updates.

What The Partial Lead Signals For Los Angeles

The current returns show a challenger moving ahead of an incumbent in the nation’s second largest city, which is a notable political moment on its own. For residents across the spectrum who feel big systems are not working, the process itself can feel slow and distant. But the posted updates come from election officials, not campaigns, and they reflect standard steps designed to protect voter intent in a large, vote-by-mail heavy county.

Both liberals and conservatives want clear results that they can trust. The clearest path is to track official county releases and wait for certification. In the meantime, Los Angeles continues to process hundreds of thousands of ballots under rules set by state law. Raman’s current lead is real in the posted returns, while the final word will be the county’s certified canvass at the end of the 30-day window.