Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilwoman Nithya Raman traded sharp attacks Wednesday night over homelessness, policing, housing, and the city’s struggling economy in the first major debate of the general election campaign.
The 90-minute debate offered voters a preview of a race expected to be closely watched. Bass, who finished about 5 points ahead of Raman in the June primary, sought to portray her challenger as an inexperienced outsider who would struggle to build support at City Hall.
Raman argued that Bass’s four years in office have produced inadequate results on some of Los Angeles’s most pressing problems.
Homelessness emerged as one of the night’s central issues.
Homelessness in the country’s second-largest city rose 3.4% to an estimated 45,194 people in 2026, while unsheltered homelessness increased by nearly 8%, according to the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count. The increase followed two consecutive years of declines.
Raman, who founded a homelessness outreach nonprofit, pointed to a 49% reduction in unsheltered homelessness in her district as evidence of what she said stronger oversight can accomplish.
She promised to audit every city dollar devoted to homelessness within her first six months as mayor and criticized Bass’s Inside Safe program, arguing that roughly $400 million has been spent without sufficient accountability.
Bass defended Inside Safe, a housing initiative launched by Bass to move people from street encampments into temporary motel and hotel rooms. She argued that Los Angeles’s broader homelessness system is dysfunctional because responsibility is divided among the city, Los Angeles County, and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.
“If the city controls the system completely, we can have our own contracts with federally qualified health clinics to get people the healthcare that they need, especially in terms of drugs and mental health,” Bass said.
Bass also challenged Raman’s claim that the reduction in homelessness in her council district was primarily the result of her policies, arguing that Inside Safe played a major role.
The program has faced questions about its effectiveness. A Los Angeles Times analysis found that roughly 41% of people who entered Inside Safe had subsequently returned to homelessness.
Bass repeatedly pointed to Raman’s six years on the City Council, including her leadership of the Housing and Homelessness Committee, arguing that she bears some responsibility for the city’s challenges.
The candidates also clashed over a state law encouraging greater housing density around transit corridors.
Bass has opposed the law, arguing that Sacramento should not dictate how Los Angeles develops its neighborhoods.
“The best way to build is to reach agreement with communities,” Bass said.
Raman supports the bill but has worked with city officials on guidelines for implementing it, including potential limits on building heights and unit counts in some single-family neighborhoods.
“This is a massive problem for the future of Los Angeles,” Raman said, calling for a planning department capable of zoning for more housing.
Public safety provided another major point of contention.
Raman defended her opposition to a 2023 contract that provided pay increases for Los Angeles Police Department officers, arguing the city could not afford the agreement and suffered as a result through reduced funding for streetlights, pothole repairs, and sanitation.
“This is about fiscal management of our public tax dollars,” Raman said.
Raman said she supports maintaining the size of the LAPD but argued the department still struggles with recruitment.
Bass, who has advocated expanding the department, used a 2020 social media post in which Raman supported defunding the police to attack her opponent.
“She’s irresponsible in what she talks about because she talks out of both sides of her mouth,” Bass said.
Raman also criticized Police Chief Jim McDonnell over his handling of federal immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles. She said she would replace McDonnell if elected.
“I don’t believe that his response to the ICE raids on our streets has met the moment,” Raman said. “This is a moment where immigrants in the city are under attack.”
The candidates also sparred over Los Angeles’s entertainment industry.
Raman said the city has lost tens of thousands of film jobs under Bass and said Los Angeles needs a more aggressive film tax credit to compete with other states.
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“We need a tax credit and advocacy in Sacramento for the kind of tax credit that is the same as Georgia has, that’s the same that New Jersey has, that’s taking jobs away from here,” Raman said.
Bass pointed to her appointment of a film czar to serve as a liaison between the industry and City Hall and criticized Raman for not doing more during her six years on the council.