Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman leads Mayor Karen Bass by 11 percentage points in a new poll released Wednesday, although one-third of likely voters remain undecided less than six weeks before the Nov. 3 election.
Raman, who placed second to Bass in the June primary, was favored by 39% of likely Los Angeles voters, compared with 28% for Bass, according to a poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times. The survey found that 33% of likely voters remained undecided.
“It’s extraordinarily unusual to see this many undecided voters at this point in the race,” Mark DiCamillo, director of the Berkeley IGS Poll, told the LATimes. “Raman clearly has the advantage. Her task is a little less onerous than Bass’.”
The poll also asked likely voters about the candidates’ favorability. Bass had a 63% unfavorable rating and a 28% favorable rating, while 9% had no opinion. Raman had a 40% favorable rating and a 39% unfavorable rating, with 21% expressing no opinion.
READ: Nithya Raman overtakes Spencer Pratt for second place in LA mayoral race (June 8, 2026)
Raman has been endorsed by the Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. USC professor Dan Schnur, who teaches courses in politics, communications and leadership, said the organization’s support reflects a broader desire among some voters for generational change.
“DSA is obviously a very far left, very progressive organization, with a very progressive ethos,” Schnur said. “But a lot of what drives it, also, is the need of so many young people in particular for generational changes and an attitude that it’s time for their side of the political spectrum to fight back more aggressively than they have in the past.”
“What I’d say about this particular race is that Raman, while she is a DSA member, she’s not running or winning this race because she’s more progressive than Karen Bass. She’s running because she represents dramatic change. That, more than left-right ideology, is what’s propelling her forward,” he added.
The survey was conducted online among 2,150 likely city voters between Sept. 15 and Sept. 20 and has a margin of error of about 3 percentage points.
Raman is the first South Asian woman to serve on the Los Angeles City Council. She advanced to the November runoff after placing second behind Bass in the June primary, receiving 29% of the vote compared with Bass’ 34%.
READ: Khanna advances as Tandon surprises in primary (June 3, 2026)
Her campaign has drawn comparisons from some political observers to the rise of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has also built support among younger voters, immigrants and working-class residents.
Bass campaign spokesman Alex Stack called the Berkeley IGS/L.A. Times poll “an outlier” and said it was not “reflective of the energy we see when talking to voters every day and what every other poll indicates — this is going to be a close race.”
Other polls have shown a closer contest. An internal Raman campaign poll conducted in early September showed her leading Bass 44% to 39%, with 17% undecided. A poll commissioned by an independent expenditure group supporting Raman showed her leading 38% to 32%. Meanwhile, an August poll commissioned by a group supporting Bass showed the mayor ahead 41% to 35%, with 24% undecided.
The latest Berkeley IGS/L.A. Times poll also found a significant age divide. Raman held a particularly large advantage among voters ages 18 to 29, while Bass led among voters 65 and older.