Bass Leads Raman 34% to 29% Into Their First General-Election Debate, in Sherman Oaks

The Los Angeles mayor and her council-member challenger meet at an adult center on Van Nuys Boulevard, with homelessness, housing costs and the Palisades Fire response framing the runoff.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman are scheduled to hold their first debate of the general-election campaign on Wednesday evening, August 19, 2026, at the Sherman Oaks East Valley Adult Center at 5056 Van Nuys Blvd. in Sherman Oaks, according to LAist, which published its preview of the event on August 18, 2026. Bass finished ahead of Raman in the June 2026 primary with 34% of the vote to Raman's 29%, LAist reported.

Because no candidate in the primary field topped 50%, the two advanced to a November runoff, per LAist. The debate is sponsored by the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association and is expected to run from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., LAist reported. LAist said the debate can be heard live on LAist.com, at 89.3 on the radio dial, in the LAist app or through a smart speaker.

Where the two candidates stand, as reported

Bass is a vulnerable incumbent whose unfavorable ratings top 50%, LAist reported, citing rising street homelessness, housing costs and a shortage of basic city services such as pothole repair among the reasons some voters have become disenchanted. She has also been criticized for her handling of the Palisades Fire, according to LAist.

Bass has said she understands the frustration but is "not done" as mayor. "You want to hear frustrated?" Bass said at a recent campaign event, in remarks reported by LAist. "I'm frustrated too. But I'll tell you what frustration does to me. Frustration makes me fight even harder."

Bass points to fewer homeless encampments in many neighborhoods, more permits issued to build affordable housing and a drop in crime, LAist reported. Her backers include the L.A. County Democratic Party, the L.A. County Federation of Labor and the Chamber of Commerce, according to LAist.

Raman has served on the Los Angeles City Council since 2020, two years before Bass became mayor, and remains relatively unknown to many voters, LAist reported. She says she is running against "the political machine," per LAist. Raman has cited a 49% drop in unsheltered homelessness in her Council District 4, which runs from Silver Lake to Sherman Oaks, and says she has a plan to cut street homelessness in half citywide by the Olympics and to eliminate it entirely by the end of four years, according to LAist. Her supporters include Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia, various local Democratic clubs and the Western States Carpenters Association, LAist reported.

Desk note on the record check

The assignment desk asked for a claim-by-claim scoring of the debate against city budget documents, Inside Safe outcome data, prior council votes and campaign-finance filings. Those documents are not in hand here, and the debate had not taken place when LAist published its preview, so nothing in this piece verifies or scores what either candidate says on stage.

What the LAist preview does establish is the set of numbers each campaign has chosen to run on, and those are the ones a record check would have to reach first: the 49% drop in unsheltered homelessness Raman claims for Council District 4, the affordable-housing permit and crime figures Bass cites, and the timeline in Raman's pledge to halve street homelessness citywide by the Olympics. Each is a candidate's characterization as reported by LAist, not an audited figure.

Separately, LAist's site lists a story headlined "LA Mayor Bass wants public transit to be free. Metro puts that price tag at over $1 billion."