Will L.A.'s embattled mayor make it to the general election?
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is simultaneously in danger of a career-ending defeat on Tuesday and tantalizingly close to getting the opponent she almost certainly wants to face in the fall, according to a new poll of next week’s officially nonpartisan primary.
UC Berkeley’s survey for the Los Angeles Times shows Bass leading with just 26% of the vote, with City Councilmember Nithya Raman narrowly edging out former reality TV star Spencer Pratt 25-22 for the second spot in the general election. Bass and Raman are both Democrats, while Pratt is a Republican.
Eleven other candidates are on the ballot, but none appear to have a shot to move forward. The school finds housing activist Rae Huang, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, well behind with 9%, while no one else breaks 5%.
Bass convincingly won a promotion from the U.S. House to the mayor’s office in 2022, but her standing never recovered following her response to last year’s devastating wildfires and the subsequent rebuilding effort. Respondents now give Bass an upside-down 35-57 approval rating, a score no politician would be happy with going into a tough reelection campaign.
https://www.the-downballot.com/p/morning-digest-will-las-embattled