Raman Presses Bass Over Limited Televised Debates Before L.A. Mayoral Election

LOS ANGELES — The LA mayoral debates dispute intensified Tuesday as City Councilwoman Nithya Raman criticized Mayor Karen Bass for declining most televised mayoral debates ahead of the Nov. 3 election, arguing Angelenos deserve more on-air exchanges over homelessness, housing costs, public safety, and city services.

According to Raman’s campaign, the LA mayoral debates schedule shows the councilwoman has accepted invitations from NBC4 and Telemundo 52, CBS2 and KNX, ABC7 and Univision 34, and KTLA5 and CNN. Bass has agreed to one televised debate — NBC4 and Telemundo 52 on Oct. 12 — and has declined the others, Raman’s team said in a statement reported by Patch / City News Service.

The LA mayoral debates dispute lands as both candidates intensify endorsements and attacks with less than two months until Election Day.

Why the LA mayoral debates dispute matters

Los Angeles’ mayoral race is a high-visibility municipal contest that shapes housing, homelessness response, and basic services for millions. Televised debates remain one of the few shared forums where undecided voters can compare records and proposals without relying solely on paid ads.

Raman’s campaign said residents face “enormous challenges” — homelessness, housing costs, public safety, affordability, infrastructure, and city services that “too often fail to deliver” — and “deserve a serious, substantive and transparent conversation” about competing ideas. The statement urged Bass to “reconsider and join Nithya for more televised debates across different networks and before different communities.”

Bass campaign spokesman Alex Stack responded that Raman does not show up for the job taxpayers are paying her to do and is using her position to campaign instead of solving the city’s biggest problems. “Mayor Bass is running the city to make LA safer and more affordable,” Stack said, adding that Bass “has already agreed to a dozen forums and debates that are being livestreamed on radio and TV, including the televised NBC4/Telemundo 52 debate.

The campaigns have already shared some stages. Last month, Bass and Raman debated before the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council and Sherman Oaks/Encino Chamber of Commerce — an event limited to in-person and Zoom audiences but carried live on LAist radio. On Sept. 3, they appeared at an environmental and climate forum organized by groups including the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters, SCOPE LA, the Sierra Club, and others, speaking separately on environmental justice, extreme heat, air pollution, oil drilling, energy costs, housing, public safety, and emergency response.

Endorsements are also stacking up. Unite Here Local 11, representing more than 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona, endorsed Raman last week. Co-president Ada Briceño said the union wants a mayor who will “stand with the working people who keep this city running.” Bass announced the endorsement of Spanish-language newspaper La Opinión, saying she was proud of the paper’s recognition of work “to make LA safer and more affordable.”

Attendance records have become a campaign weapon on both sides. The Bass campaign launched NoShowNithya.com accusing Raman of missing nearly 3,000 council votes; Raman’s team called the attack “desperate and said it was ironic coming from a mayor “missing during our city’s most devastating emergencies.” Separately, Bass said she would step down from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) Commission after a three-year term that ended June 30. LAist previously reported she missed more than half of LAHSA Commission meetings since appointing herself in 2023 — 13 of 21 meetings between mid-August 2025 and August, above the four-absence removal threshold in LAHSA bylaws — and Bass cited time constraints for leaving the board. Those absences are part of the public record; they are not themselves proof of debate motives.

National readers following September election calendars will recognize the same debate-access fights that surface in other contests, from Rhode Islands primary to map fights like Missouris congressional map litigation. Civic attention also splits across federal stories — White House ballroom construction and air traffic controller pay debates — but L.A. voters still need local comparisons before Nov. 3.

Whether Bass adds more televised dates remains unsettled. The one confirmed network debate is Oct. 12 on NBC4/Telemundo 52.

How Never Late News reported this

This piece draws on City News Service reporting carried by Patch on Sept. 8, 2026, including campaign statements from Raman’s team and Bass spokesman Alex Stack, endorsement quotes, and previously reported LAHSA attendance figures attributed to LAist. Debate invitation lists are presented as Raman campaign claims; Bass’s “dozen forums figure is presented as her campaign’s claim. We have not independently audited either campaign’s full invitation log.

Primary source: Patch / City News Service on Raman and Bass debate invitations.

Corrections and reader feedback

Campaign staff or debate hosts with confirmation letters for CBS2/KNX, ABC7/Univision, KTLA/CNN, or additional Bass forum dates can send documentation to tips@neverlatenews.com. We correct misattributed quotes and schedule errors promptly.