Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Thursday that she views her defeat in the Nov. 3 election as part of a much larger political phenomenon, with voters across the nation demanding change at every level of government.
Bass, 73, said Mayor-elect Nithya Raman’s win was, at least in part, the result of “a wave that took place around the country.”
“This happens every five or six years, that voters get in a space where they just want everything new,” she said. “And I think that what happened here was part of that.”
Bass made her remarks while appearing at the opening of a new 140-bed interim housing facility in North Hills, which will provide homeless people with medical referrals, job counseling and help with finding an apartment.
It was the first open-press public event scheduled by the mayor’s office since Bass called Raman, a city councilmember and onetime ally, to concede the race.
Raman, who takes office on Dec. 14, won with nearly 55% of the vote, compared to about 45% for Bass, according to the most recent results.
Her victory dealt Bass, a former state Assembly Speaker and six-term member of Congress, her first election defeat in a political career that spanned more than two decades.
“Obviously I was disappointed in the results,” Bass said after the event. “But the results are the results.”
Bass became mayor in 2022 and immediately made the fight against homelessness a cornerstone of her administration. She declared a local emergency on homelessness on her first day in office and soon afterward launched Inside Safe, which moves homeless people into hotels, motels and other forms of temporary housing.
Although Raman supported those efforts for much of Bass’ tenure, she criticized the program on the campaign trail, calling it expensive and ineffective.
Although Inside Safe has moved more than 6,000 people indoors, nearly 43% of the program’s participants had returned to the street by Sept. 1, according to figures issued by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.
Despite those setbacks, Bass told reporters in North Hills that she feels good about her administration’s progress in addressing the crisis, saying her office established L.A.’s first citywide strategy for addressing homeless encampments.
During Thursday’s ribbon cutting ceremony, San Fernando Valley civic leaders thanked Bass for putting a priority on homelessness.
“It’s a hard, hard issue to solve, and we’re going to be working on it for awhile,” said Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo, D-Chatsworth, while addressing the mayor. “But you have moved it forward leaps and bounds.”
Bass, a Democrat, did express delight with the election results in other parts of the country, particularly in Mississippi, where voters elected the first Black U.S. Senator since Reconstruction.
“I was very happy for the election nationally. Obviously, I’d prefer different results here,” she said. “But you know, the fact that now Democrats are in control of both the Senate and the House means that we’ll be able to put a check on the president, which is something that has been needed.”
Asked what she intends to do next, Bass said she has “so many ideas.”
Another run for political office isn’t one of them.
“You understand never to say never,” she added. “Right now, I can’t imagine it.”