110,000 Doors: How LA Democratic Socialists Won City Hall

Nithya Raman defeated incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in the Los Angeles mayoral race, becoming the first Democratic Socialists of America member to lead the city, according to the Guardian's Nov. 7, 2026, report on the result. Her win, paired with a slate of other victories for DSA-Los Angeles-endorsed candidates, puts democratic socialists in charge of both New York City and Los Angeles, the Guardian reported, describing the outcome as part of a broader "blue tsunami" in this week's elections.

Who defeated Karen Bass in the Los Angeles mayor's race?

Raman, who had served as the first democratic socialist on the Los Angeles City Council, beat Bass outright, the Guardian reported Nov. 7, 2026. The outlet characterized the result as "hardly a given" even in a heavily Democratic city, and attributed part of Bass's loss to sustained unpopularity with Los Angeles voters, though the specific polling figures behind that assessment were not detailed in the available Guardian account. No vote-count or margin figures were included in the source material.

How many doors did volunteers knock before the election?

DSA-LA volunteers knocked on more than 110,000 doors during the election season, according to DSA-LA figures reported by the Guardian on Nov. 7, 2026. The organization said the canvassing effort produced its largest-ever slate of candidate victories in a single cycle, per the same Guardian report. The Guardian did not break out how many of those 110,000 door contacts were specifically tied to the Raman campaign versus other DSA-LA-endorsed races on the same ballot.

Which other races did democratic socialists win in Los Angeles?

Beyond the mayor's office, DSA-LA-endorsed candidate Marissa Roy won the Los Angeles city attorney race, and Angela Gonzales-Torres defeated incumbent Jimmy Gomez for a U.S. House seat, the Guardian reported Nov. 7, 2026. DSA-LA members also won seats on school boards and on the Burbank City Council, giving Burbank what the organization describes as the first socialist-majority city council on the West Coast, according to a DSA-LA statement cited in the Guardian's Nov. 7, 2026, story. The Guardian report did not specify the total number of school board seats won or provide vote totals for the Burbank council races.

How does this compare to New York City?

With Raman's win, the Guardian noted on Nov. 7, 2026, that the United States' two largest cities — New York and Los Angeles — are now both run by democratic socialist mayors. That comparison was the only cross-city figure offered in the source material; no population, budget or prior-election data was provided to quantify how the two cities' political shifts compare beyond the shared label.

What do organizers say comes next?

Anna Gross, a DSA-LA steering committee member, said in a statement quoted by the Guardian on Nov. 7, 2026: "These results show us what we've known for a long time: Angelenos are looking for an alternative to politicians beholden to billionaires and corporate interests." Gross added that with representation "across LA county, in the most powerful positions in city hall and for the first time in US Congress," the organization looks forward to "showing Angelenos what Democratic Socialist leadership can deliver," according to the same Guardian account. The Guardian report did not include a response or counter-statement from Bass, Gomez or other candidates defeated in the cycle.

The Numbers

• 110,000+ — doors knocked by DSA-LA volunteers ahead of the Nov. 2026 election, per DSA-LA figures reported by the Guardian, Nov. 7, 2026.
• 2 of 2 — the number of the United States' two largest cities (New York and Los Angeles) now led by democratic socialist mayors, per the Guardian's Nov. 7, 2026, report.

The Guardian's account, sourced to DSA-LA statements and the paper's own election reporting, is the only dataset available on the scope of the canvassing operation and the down-ballot sweep; no independent exit-poll or campaign-finance figures were included in the material reviewed for this report. Readers seeking vote totals, margins or turnout breakdowns by district will need to consult official Los Angeles County election returns once certified, as those figures were not part of the Guardian's Nov. 7, 2026, dispatch.

For the full account of the results and the DSA-LA statement in context, see the originating Guardian report.

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