LA mayor candidates set for forum as city struggles with homelessness, Hollywood job losses

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two Democratic rivals seeking to lead troubled Los Angeles will meet in a high-stakes forum Tuesday just days before mail ballots drop, as voters weigh whether to stick with unpopular incumbent Karen Bass or turn to a little-known City Council member backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, Nithya Raman.

The contest has raised the possibility that the nation's second most populous city could follow New York's lead, where democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor, capping a stunning ascent for the far-left state lawmaker who promised to transform city government to restore power to the working class. Yet in LA, no celebrity swirl has gathered around Raman in her first run for citywide office.

The two Democrats are scheduled to appear at a forum co-hosted by the Jewish Federation Los Angeles at a time when the party has been deeply divided over the war in Gaza and aid to Israel.

Bass, the first Black woman to hold the post, is fighting to keep her job after a rough first term in which she suffered sustained fallout from the deadly Palisades Fire, the most destructive in Los Angeles history that ignited when she was out of the country. In June, a fire east of downtown in a massive frozen-food warehouse left neighbors to endure weeks of foul smells and frustration.

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