The $30 million toe in the water

Progressive city council member Nithya Raman will challenge incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in a November runoff election, setting up an unexpected matchup between two Democrats and former political allies to run the struggling city of nearly four million people.

The race, set against a backdrop of homelessness, infrastructure issues, and rising costs, has historical potential with Bass as the first Black woman mayor and Raman possibly becoming the first South Asian woman in the role.

Bass, backed by prominent Democratic figures, faces criticism for her handling of city problems, while Raman campaigns on speeding up housing construction and improving services.

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The mayoral race was technically nonpartisan, so the candidates appeared on the ballot without party identification next to their names. The election suggested confidence in Bass is weak, as incomplete returns indicated she received under 35 per cent of the vote, a vulnerable position for an incumbent.

Raman had been running in third until Sunday, but she gained more votes with every update provided by election officials in Los Angeles since June 2, primary day.

Bass represents the Democratic establishment as the incumbent mayor, and she's backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, former U.S. vice-president Kamala Harris and former U.S. House speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with influential labour unions.

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Raman - in her first run for citywide office - has promised to speed up housing construction, bring back entertainment industry jobs and improve services in a city known for dirty streets, gridlock and homeless encampments that are commonplace in many neighbourhoods.

"What we are doing right now is just not working," Raman said. "L .A.'s primary strategy for homelessness has been to move encampments from one block to another, from your block to your neighbour's block and back again..... It's political theatre."

The race also has historical markers. Bass is the first Black woman to hold the post, and Raman could be the first South Asian woman in the job .

Who is the unnamed buyer?

The runoff outcome was determined after a slow vote-counting process in California. Ballots are mailed to every eligible voter and they are counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and arrive at an election office within seven days.

Los Angeles, like other counties in California,processes and counts mail ballots in roughly the order they are received, so the last ones returned are the last ones counted.

Election data shows that large numbers of Democrats held onto their mail ballots and returned them in the race's final days, which helps explain why Bass and Raman have been doing better than Pratt in the votes counted since primary day.

Another candidate, Rick Caruso, is out of the running.. His candidacy had drawn national attention because of his celebrity and willingness to challenge liberal governance in a city dominated by Democrats, but the buzz did not translate into enough votes to make the runoff.