An election race that began with a February surprise entered the final hours of campaigning Monday when Mayor Karen Bass and challenger Nithya Raman made their last-minute pleas to voters in Los Angeles.
Bass, who has never lost an election for public office during her political career in Sacramento, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, made several campaign appearances Monday as she looks to secure a second term. The mayor joined Democratic candidate for governor Xavier Becerra at Homegirl Cafe in Los Angeles’ Chinatown area before stops in Sylmar, Pacoima and other parts of the city she was elected to lead in November 2022 when she defeated real estate developer Rick Caruso.
During her final day campaign blitz, Bass talked about homelessness, making LA more affordable and public safety.
“My closing message to voters is that this election is a real choice,” Bass said. “I know that we can get rid of all the major encampments off our streets, I know that our city can be safer. We need to have more police officers and, most important, I know that our city can be affordable.”
Councilmember Raman, who surprised the Los Angeles political world in February when she announced she would run against her long-time ally, traveled to several parts of the city, including the UCLA campus where she met with supporters. Raman spoke on an outdoor stage, surrounded by sign-waving backers.
“The issues that I’m speaking to in this campaign are issues that matter for young people,” Raman said. “Young people who are moving to the city who want to build their life here, who want to be able to afford to build their dreams here, and are unable to do it because we have a mayoral administration in a city hall that has ignored their needs for far too long.”Raman was scheduled to attend a Dia de Los Muertos event and an election eve party in West Hollywood.
Over the weekend, she echoed a common theme of her campaign — addressing the collective mood of Los Angeles residents.
“Going across this entire city, there is so much frustration about the decline in services across LA,” Raman said at an event Sunday in Canoga Park. “Whether it’s on homelessness where we’ve spent hundreds of millions of dollars and not gotten the results that Angelenos deserve. Whether it’s on essential services like street lights and potholes and sidewalks, LA s frustrated, and I will bring change.”
Raman, endorsed by the Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, finished second to Bass in the June primary, which included reality TV star Spencer Pratt. How voters who supported Pratt and the primary and a significant number of undecided voters will likely tip the election in favor of Bass or Raman, judging by recent polls.
One week before Election Day, a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by The Los Angeles Times showed Bass and Raman in a dead heat with both at 40% among likely voters. Nineteen percent remained undecided, according to the poll, down from a sizeable 33% of likely voters in the previous poll published in late September.
Raman, who placed second to Bass in the June primary, was favored by 39% of likely Los Angeles voters with Bass at 28% in the September poll.
The drop-off in undecided voters since the September poll release likely contributed to the comeback for Bass, according to the poll’s director. That decline in undecided voters was significant among conservative voters who supported reality TV star Spencer Pratt in the June primary, director Mark DiCamillo told the Times.
In the September poll, 22% of Pratt voters indicated they planned to vote for Bass and 16% said they would vote for Raman. That left 63% of Pratt voters undecided.
In the latest poll, 41% of Pratt voters said they plan to back Bass over the candidate endorsed by the Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. Raman’s support among Pratt voters was at 14% in the October poll.
Forty-five percent of Pratt voters remained undecided, according to the poll.
Vote centers in California will be open Tuesday for voting from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voters also will decide contests for governor, Congress and several statewide ballot measures in the 2026 California general election. Election Day is Tuesday, but many voters have already cast ballots in California, where every registered active voter receives a mail-in ballot that can be returned by mail or dropped in a ballot drop box. Several vote centers opened in October for early in-person voting.
This year’s election ballot includes a long list of state, county and local races for voters to decide. Once they’re filled out and signed, ballots can be returned to the county elections office by mail or dropped at official ballot drop boxes.
If a ballot is postmarked by Election Day and received within seven days, LA County elections officials will process, verify and count that ballot. The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk recommended mailing ballots at least seven days prior to Election Day.
Here’s what to check before returning the ballot.
Vote centers are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day Nov. 3 for in-person voting or drop-off. If you’re in line by the time polls close, you can vote.
Voters also can track their ballots using this tool on the Los Angeles County website.
Voter information for other Southern California counties is available below.
Planning to vote at a vote center on Election Day? County elections officials suggest speeding up the process by using a Quick Check-In Code.
Voters in Los Angeles County can enter their information here to receive a unique check-in code (barcode). Show the code to an election worker at the vote center to check in instantly. The Quick Check-in Code is also printed on your sample ballot and vote center postcard. Voters may take either of those hard copies to the vote center, too.
The county offers a searchable map on its website. Here’s what to know about the drop box program, which started in 2017.
The last day to register to vote in the election was Oct. 19, but California offers same-day voter registration, which allows people to register at vote centers, then cast a provisional ballot. Anyone registering to vote less than 15 days before an election will need to complete the same-day registration process and request a ballot in person at a county polling location.
Voters who conditionally register will, in most cases, cast a provisional ballot. Once county elections officials process the registration and validates the information, registration becomes permanent and the provisional ballot will be counted.
The California Secretary of State website has more information about same-day registration.
Check the status of your vote-by-mail ballot on the California Secretary of State website.
In California, registering to vote requires a California driver’s license or state ID number. The last four digits of your Social Security Number also can be provided, if you do not have a California ID. Anyone without either forms of ID will be assigned a unique identifier to validate registration.
The ID numbers are then matched against DMV records or Social Security Administration records.
In most cases, California does not generally require voters to show ID at vote centers, according to the Secretary of State. Voters might be asked to show ID if voting for the first time in federal election, they registered by mail or online and did not provide a California ID or SSN when registering.
Poll workers may only request ID if its clearly indicated on the voter list as a requirement.
The following forms of ID are accepted:
Top races in the November election include the contest for Los Angeles mayor and a race for governor featuring Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton. The two emerged from a crowded June primary field.
Becerra, the former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary under President Biden, has portrayed Hilton as President Trump’s hand-picked candidate to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is in his final term.
Hilton has cast himself as a change agent, offering an alternative for a state that has solidly back Democratic candidates for governor. The last time California voted for a Republican candidate for governor was 2006, when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was re-elected to a second term.
Becerra was ahead by a wide margin over Hilton in a poll released last week. In the survey of likely California voters, 61% said they would choose Becerra to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom with 37% supporting businessman Hilton, according to the Californians and their Government survey by the Public Policy Institute of California. The
The ballot includes races for other California state offices, contests for Los Angeles City Council, city and county offices, county and city measures, Los Angeles County sheriff and Congress, which could play a part in the balance of power in Washington, D.C.
Click below to learn more about the statewide ballot propositions.
Source: NBC Staff Reports • Interactive: Annetta Stogniew
Election result updates will be provided by county elections officials after polls close Nov. 3. The county will begin its official canvass Nov. 4, with election results scheduled to be certified Nov. 27.
California law allows county elections officials up to 30 days to complete the official canvass and processed.
Updated election results will be provided by NBCLA and Telemundo 52.
