progressive council – Three Los Angeles City Council progressives who are dues-paying members of the Democratic Socialists of America endorsed Mayor Karen Bass for reelection, a move that undercuts her progressive challenger Nithya Raman just as the June 2 primary approaches.
The timing landed like a warning shot for Nithya Raman.
Three members of Los Angeles’ progressive City Council bloc—Eunisses Hernandez. Ysabel Jurado and Hugo Soto-Martínez—announced they are backing Mayor Karen Bass for reelection. dealing a sharp political blow to Raman. their progressive ally on the council who is also a dues-paying member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Hernandez and Jurado planned to make the endorsements public on Tuesday. Each pointed to Bass’ handling of the Trump administration’s immigration raids over the summer and her work to reduce homelessness as key reasons for their support.
“When immigrant communities across our city came under attack, Karen Bass stood up and spoke out. She showed real leadership and conviction,” Hernandez said in a statement. Hernandez represents a district running from Pico-Union to Highland Park.
Soto-Martínez, who endorsed Bass earlier this year, joined his DSA colleagues with a statement that he was “caught off-guard” by Raman’s surprise decision to challenge Bass. Raman announced the run just before the filing period closed.
“Even when we disagree, I’ve never doubted Mayor Bass and her long-standing commitment to the community,” Soto-Martínez said.
Raman had backed Bass’ reelection bid two weeks before jumping into the race. She later said that her endorsement of the mayor actually came months before it was officially announced.
What makes the break more personal for voters watching the left is how Raman’s campaign has been moving closer to the political center while Bass’ coalition solidifies. Although Raman is part of the progressive bloc, she has tacked more centrist as she seeks citywide office.
She now says the Los Angeles Police Department should maintain its current sworn officer strength. She also said that if elected mayor she wouldn’t block council members from enacting anti-encampment zones in their districts.
Her record has been more complicated. Previously, Raman has sometimes voted against hiring officers and posted “Defund the police” on X during her first council run. She has also voted repeatedly against implementing anti-encampment zones, saying it simply moves the problem somewhere else.
At the same time, Raman has pledged reforms often considered progressive. Her website says she supports allowing denser buildings in single-family neighborhoods. releasing a strong climate plan. and calling for the ouster of Bass’ police chief. Jim McDonnell. in favor of a chief committed to protecting immigrants.
That internal fracture is now being translated into endorsements—three council members signaling that, even within the same left-wing network, they believe Bass is the better choice.
Mike Trujillo, a Democratic consultant in Los Angeles, said the planned endorsements are “a major blow to Councilwoman Nithya Raman.” He added: “If the people that sit inches from her are rejecting her candidacy, that should speak volumes to every other voter in the city.”
Polls show Bass leading all candidates in the June 2 primary, though not with majority support to win outright. If that holds, a runoff on Nov. 3 is expected against Raman or former reality TV personality Spencer Pratt, who are running neck-and-neck for a second-place finish. Raman did not respond to a request for comment on the endorsement.
Raman has suggested Bass is trying to knock her out of the primary because the mayor would prefer to face Pratt in a potential Nov. 3 runoff. The race is nonpartisan, but Pratt is a Republican in a city where GOP registration is not quite 15%.
Bass denied she would rather face Pratt than Raman. “I don’t think he is preferable as a competitor. I don’t want any competitors, how about that?” Bass said during a one-on-one debate with Raman at the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn.
The endorsements also land after the DSA itself took a more cautious stance than its members. DSA declined to formally endorse in the mayoral race—one in which Raman and community organizer Rae Huang are both dues-paying members of the left-wing group. Instead, DSA said it “recommended” voting for Raman, stopping short of a formal endorsement.
“The progressive electorate is still dancing between Raman and Rae,” said Mike Bonin, a former progressive L.A. City Councilmember who now leads the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State LA.
Bonin said Bass’s announcements of the endorsements are “an attempt to chip away at Nithya.” He also added that endorsements for someone with Bass’ level of name recognition are not of utmost importance, because voters already know her.
Zev Yaroslavsky, another former L.A. council member who now leads the Los Angeles Initiative at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, said the endorsements may have less to do with ideology and more to do with the practical business of governance.
“These are people who have worked with Bass and have gotten things from the mayor’s administration and want to keep that going,” Yaroslavsky said.
Still, he said the endorsements could help on election day. “These endorsements give Bass some credibility among a segment of the electorate that might not have necessarily been for her,” Yaroslavsky added.
For Raman, the message from her own side is now hard to ignore: three council progressives—close enough to disagree in the chamber—are choosing Bass anyway.
Los Angeles mayor race Karen Bass Nithya Raman DSA Democratic Socialists of America Eunisses Hernandez Ysabel Jurado Hugo Soto-Martínez immigration raids homelessness anti-encampment zones Jim McDonnell