Housing advocate Rae Huang’s announcement that she’s going to run for mayor of Los Angeles injected a progressive voice into what had been shaping up as a matchup between Mayor Karen Bass and former LAUSD superintendent Austin Beutner.
Huang, deputy director of Housing Now California and an ordained Presbyterian minister, enters the race on a platform that requires “housing for all,” quick and free buses, stronger staff safety and a public security strategy centered on prevention and care.
“I am running because I can do the job and because Los Angeles has been ready for real leadership for a long time,” she advised supporters as she launched her marketing campaign Sunday.
Her entry presents Bass — a veteran Democratic chief who received in 2022 after a high-profile conflict with developer Rick Caruso — with a problem on her left flank at a time when the incumbent faces scrutiny over the town’s funds, public providers and the slow-moving restoration from the harmful Palisades hearth.
It additionally reorders the early construction of the race, creating distinct ideological lanes and elevating the likelihood {that a} extra crowded area may push the competition right into a pricey November runoff.
Huang has by no means run for elected workplace and is little identified outdoors tenant-rights and progressive circles. However analysts say she may nonetheless affect the race, particularly at a second when many Angelenos are pissed off with excessive housing prices and inconsistent metropolis providers.
“Think of Rae Huang less as an L.A. version of Mamdani and more like a local Bernie Sanders,” stated Dan Schnur, a political analyst who teaches at USC and UC Berkeley. “It’s hard to see her getting elected mayor, but she has the potential to cause major problems for Bass.”
Huang’s base overlaps with the town’s tenant motion and youthful progressives aligned with teams such because the Democratic Socialists of America. DSA-backed candidates now maintain 4 Metropolis Council seats — a pointy rise since 2020, when Nithya Raman grew to become the primary DSA-endorsed candidate to win a seat at Metropolis Corridor.
Fernando Guerra, a political science professor at Loyola Marymount College, stated Huang “gives individuals who are traditionally leftists an avenue for a vote, when they wouldn’t want to vote for someone more to the right of Mayor Bass.” He added, “ It might take away enough votes to force a runoff for Mayor Bass.”
Bass heads into the race with some great benefits of incumbency and title recognition, in addition to a file she will be able to level to on homelessness. Political analyst Zev Yaroslavsky stated avenue homelessness has improved since 2021 and 2022, as debate continues over the tempo of progress.
Her marketing campaign factors to her file. “Under Mayor Bass’ leadership, there has been unprecedented progress on the issues that matter most to Angelenos,” marketing campaign spokesperson Doug Herman advised media on Sunday. He cited two consecutive years of declines in homelessness, drops in crime, and what he referred to as the quickest hearth restoration in California historical past. He additionally famous Bass’s protection of the town throughout current immigration enforcement raids.
The marketing campaign emphasised that Government Directive 1, which fast-tracks approvals for reasonably priced and supportive housing, has accelerated the tempo of housing improvement throughout Bass’s tenure.
However the Palisades hearth — which ignited on Jan. 7 whereas Bass was in Ghana on a diplomatic journey — continues to shadow her administration. The town’s funds stays strained, with higher-than-expected departmental prices, and softer resort tax revenues.
Yaroslavsky, a former metropolis council member and county supervisor, stated Bass faces stress from each side of the political spectrum. Beutner challenges her from “a more pro-business” path, he stated, whereas Huang presses her from the left. If Caruso joins the race, she would additionally face a problem from the center-right.
Yaroslavsky stated Bass nonetheless enters the race as the favourite, however cautioned in opposition to early predictions. “Anybody who is articulate, who’s authentic, who has a vision and has an organization has a chance to get on the electorate’s radar screen,” he stated.
Former LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner, who introduced his candidacy in October, additionally weighed in Monday.
“This election is about fixing L.A.’s problems to make life better and more affordable for everyone who lives here,” he stated in a press release. “My experience feeding people during a crisis, providing free glasses to kids who need them, and putting arts and music back in public schools shows it can be done. I’ll bring the same ‘get it done’ approach to City Hall.”
For Beutner, some analysts say, a extra populated area might be a bonus.
“If I’m Austin Beutner, I actually like this,” Guerra stated. “ Part of the strategy for him to win is that there needs to be a runoff, and this increases the possibility of a runoff.”
Huang’s announcement renewed questions on whether or not Caruso — who spent greater than $100 million in his 2022 mayoral bid — will run once more. The true property developer has not stated whether or not he’ll run, although he stays the topic of hypothesis about each a mayoral bid and a potential future run for governor.
Guerra stated that even with out Caruso, the presence of credible challengers “allows [Bass] to start fundraising and organizing even before someone like Caruso runs.” Their entry, he stated, provides Bass a justification for telling donors she’s going to want sources early.
Caruso’s crew didn’t reply to a request for remark by press deadline Monday.
There’s broad settlement amongst analysts that the political terrain in 2026 will differ from Bass’s final marketing campaign. The fires, renewed ICE exercise, and nationwide political local weather may affect turnout, Guerra stated. He expects youthful voters — and residents mobilized by these occasions, or by anti-Trump sentiment — to make up a lot of the brand new voters. About 80% of voters will seemingly be the identical people who solid ballots 4 years in the past, he stated, however the points driving them have shifted.
Homelessness will stay central, and local weather change — “the most important issue,” Guerra stated — is more likely to keep under-addressed. However he expects that crime will play a smaller position than it did 4 years in the past.
Bass, in the meantime, has “got a story to tell,” Yaroslavsky stated, pointing to reductions in avenue homelessness and the town’s early steps on hearth restoration. However he stated the stakes are excessive in a race the place Bass should now defend her file in opposition to a rising area of challengers.
“She’s the one to beat,” he stated, however added that Bass is going through severe challengers.
Huang has practically seven months earlier than the June major and enters a political setting extra receptive to progressive organizing.
Whether or not Huang positive aspects traction, Yaroslavsky stated, will rely on her skill to construct an actual group — “nothing succeeds like success,” as he put it — and to persuade voters she has an opportunity. She may take off, he stated, or wrestle to interrupt via in a metropolis with a much more numerous voters than locations like New York or Seattle.
Nonetheless, he cautioned in opposition to drawing early conclusions. “I don’t think you can handicap this race at this point,” he stated. “It doesn’t happen that often, especially at the mayor’s level, but these are different times now.”
