Bass and Raman face off in high-stakes debate just weeks before Election Day

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We’ve been covering the mayor’s race for more than a year now, and we’ve finally reached the final televised debate. Here are a few things we’ll be watching for in tonight’s head-to-head between Mayor Karen Bass and her challenger, Councilmember Nithya Raman.

Police Chief Politics: Bass criticized Raman last week for appearing on an Instagram video where she used the phrase “only you can stop fascist liars” before calling for the removal of Police Chief Jim McDonnell.

Raman countered that she used the words “fascist liars” to refer to Trump, not McDonnell or the LAPD. She said an Instagram influencer had edited the video in a way that distorted her words.

We’ll be looking to see how hard Bass will go after Raman on the issue, and whether Raman will clarify her timetable for replacing McDonnell.

Stressed or Serene?: The last time these two candidates took the stage for an NBC4/Telemundo52 debate, critics agreed that Nithya Raman struggled to find her footing. She stumbled over some of her answers, dealing with Bass’ calm experience on one side and Spencer Pratt’s bombastic, outsider energy on the other.

With Raman now leading in several polls, keep an eye out for whether she is more comfortable on the debate stage than in the past. Meanwhile, will Bass ramp up the attacks even further than she did in the Sherman Oaks debate in August?

Fire and Fury: The January 2025 wildfires haven’t played a large part in any of the one-on-one debates between Bass and Raman, despite being one of the major reasons that Bass’ favorability ratings tumbled last year.

At the last NBC4/Telemundo52 debate, which came before the June 2 primary, Bass was asked to defend her record over the wildfires, but it was Pratt (not Raman) who took the opportunity to critique the mayor over the fires.

Tuesday could be Raman’s last chance to remind voters of one of Bass’ biggest liabilities.

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Weeks away from the Nov. 3 election, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and challenger Nithya Raman will face off in their only live televised debate.

The debate, being conducted in partnership with Loyola Marymount University, will run from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and be moderated by NBC4 news anchor Colleen Williams, NBC4 chief political reporter Conan Nolan and Telemundo 52 news anchor Alejandra Ortiz.

You can follow along the L.A. Times live coverage of the debate here.

Both NBC4 and Telemundo 52 will air the debate live, and stream the event at nbcla.com and telemundo52.com. LAist is also streaming the debate live at 89.3 FM.