City Councilmember Nithya Raman came out ahead of incumbent Karen Bass in a new poll on the Los Angeles mayor\u2019s race, though the poll\u2019s director cautioned that it did not give the whole picture. <\/p>\n
Raman had a commanding lead in a field of five major candidates, with 33% of voters supporting her, while Bass trailed at 17%, according to the poll by the Loyola Marymount University Center for the Study of Los Angeles. <\/p>\n
Leftist Rae Huang came in just behind Bass at nearly 17%, while tech executive Adam Miller had 13% and conservative reality TV star Spencer Pratt had 12%.<\/p>\n
Other polls have shown Bass in first place.<\/p>\n
She was at 20% in an Emerson College Polling\/Inside California Politics<\/a> poll, with Raman at just over 9%. In a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll<\/a>, co-sponsored by The Times, Bass was at 25% and Raman at 17%. <\/p>\n In the Loyola Marymount poll, unlike the other polls, respondents were given brief descriptions of the candidates, including their occupations and political priorities. <\/p>\n Raman was labeled a \u201cprogressive LA City Councilmember focused on housing affordability, homelessness and systemic reform,\u201d while Bass was \u201cincumbent mayor of Los Angeles, veteran legislator, focused on homelessness.\u201d<\/p>\n One of Raman\u2019s challenges, as a council member representing Los Feliz and Silver Lake as well as parts of the San Fernando Valley, is to spread her name recognition citywide, with the June 2 primary election about two months away. She entered the race to challenge Bass, her one-time ally, at the last minute<\/a>, hours before the early February filing deadline. <\/p>\n The Loyola Marymount poll of 370 registered Los Angeles voters was conducted from Feb. 11 to March 16. It did not include a choice for \u201cundecided,\u201d while the other two polls showed that significant percentages of voters hadn\u2019t made up their minds.<\/p>\n \u201cThis poll shows if only positive descriptors are used and context is provided, Raman is ahead,\u201d said Fernando Guerra, director of Loyola Marymount\u2019s Center for the Study of Los Angeles, who directed the poll. <\/p>\n Guerra said he believes Bass is the front-runner, taking the previous polls into account.<\/p>\n Bass\u2019 campaign took issue with the Loyola Marymount poll.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2022, this same LMU poll had Karen Bass at 16% \u2014 she ended up winning the primary with 43%. The only thing more ridiculous than this poll is Spencer Pratt\u2019s performance on The Hills,\u201d said Alex Stack, a spokesperson for the Bass campaign, referencing Pratt\u2019s reality show.<\/p>\n Raman\u2019s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a post on X citing the poll<\/a>, Raman wrote, \u201cOUR CAMPAIGN IS SURGING … Angelenos are ready for a city that actually works.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul Mitchell, vice president of the bipartisan voter data firm Political Data Inc., said the poll\u2019s sample size was too small to draw conclusions and that the poll was less reliable because it was conducted over the course of more than a month. <\/p>\n He also noted that, with many of the candidates relatively unknown, including the descriptors could have a major effect.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure Nithya Raman doesn\u2019t have citywide name recognition, but that description is really great,\u201d Mitchell said.<\/p>\n Guerra said he didn\u2019t include an \u201cundecided\u201d option because he wanted to \u201cforce\u201d respondents to give an answer, similar to when they actually vote. <\/p>\n In the Emerson poll, more than 50% of voters were undecided on whom to support for mayor. The Berkeley IGS poll showed about a quarter of voters were undecided.<\/p>\n In LMU\u2019s mayoral poll from 2022<\/a>, released in early March of that year, 42% of respondents chose \u201cundecided\/someone else\u201d for mayor.<\/p>\n After Bass, who had 16% support, then-City Councilmember Kevin de L\u00e9on was second at 12% in the 2022 poll. Rick Caruso, the billionaire developer who ended up making the runoff election against Bass, received 6% support.<\/p>\n In that year\u2019s June primary<\/a>, Bass got 43% of the vote, Caruso nearly 36% and De L\u00e9on about 8%. <\/p>\n This year\u2019s LMU poll also asked L.A. voters what kind of candidate they would prefer for mayor.<\/p>\n Nearly 50% said they prefer a Democratic Socialist, while 25% said they want a moderate Democrat, 19% said a conservative and just 8% said an establishment Democrat. <\/p>\n \u201cLos Angeles is much more progressive than its elected leadership. This poll captures that,\u201d Guerra said. <\/p>\n Some disagreed.<\/p>\n Mike Trujillo, a consultant for moderate Democrats who is not representing anyone in the mayoral race, said polling he has done across the city shows that the Democratic Socialists of America\u2019s popularity is much lower. <\/p>\n