Mayor-elect Raman prepares to lead Los Angeles as housing, homelessness and a tight budget top her agenda

Los Angeles Mayor-elect Nithya Raman takes office in mid-December. She defeated incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in Tuesday's election; the Associated Press called the race on Thursday, with Raman at 52.1% to Bass's 47.9% (429,450 votes to 394,796), and Bass conceded on Thursday, pledging a smooth transition. Speaking to reporters on Thursday for the first time as mayor-elect, Raman said her top priorities would be "homelessness, housing costs and public safety." (Photo: file photo of Raman. Photo: Associated Press.)

Unsheltered homelessness up; homebuilding pledge faces a test

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority's 2026 count estimated 29,115 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in the city, a 7.9% increase from the previous year; countywide, a shortage of rental assistance has slowed movement from temporary shelter into permanent housing. Raman campaigned on tripling annual homebuilding by imposing strict "shot clocks" on approvals, overhauling inspections and codes, and cutting fees to encourage more starter homes; she has also pledged to cut the number of street encampments by at least half before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Her first-100-days plan includes moving the homelessness budget out of the much-criticised Homeless Services Authority, giving City Controller Kenneth Mejia the power to audit every dollar spent, and publishing a real-time public dashboard tracking services and spending.

A tight budget, and a City Council with a central role

Los Angeles adopted a $14.85 billion budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year, with the Bass-era version funding interim housing, police hiring and basic services. Raman will have to decide which programmes to continue, change or expand, and then present her own spending proposal; the mayor proposes the budget, and the City Council reviews, amends and votes on it. Analysts say delivering on her promises will depend on cooperation with the Council, and on balancing road repairs, broken streetlights and encampment clearances against a strained budget. Los Angeles is also preparing to host the 2028 Olympics.

Raman, 45, is an urban planner educated at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, first elected to the City Council in 2020, and founder of a nonprofit focused on homelessness outreach. She is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America; when she takes office, Los Angeles will become the second-largest American city led by a democratic socialist, after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

(Sources: Associated Press; USA Today; Realtor.com; HousingWire, November 7, 2026.)