Analysis: The Left-Wing Revolt Karen Bass Never Saw Coming

For our paid subscribers you will find, below the paywall, a video commentary that complements this column… Enjoy!

Karen Bass likely assumed her reelection would be uneventful. Instead, she may be facing the most perilous challenge for a Democratic incumbent in a deep-blue city: an uprising from her own left.

With several establishment figures declining to run, Bass avoided the kind of head-to-head race that could have become a predictable partisan contest. What she did not avoid is a serious challenge from City Councilmember Nithya Raman, whose candidacy draws energy from the same activist networks that have shifted politics in other major cities.

This is not a dispute over whether Los Angeles is sufficiently progressive. The question is whether the city is functioning at all. Voters do not experience governance through ideological abstractions. They experience it through broken infrastructure, persistent encampments, parks that feel less safe, and public systems that seem increasingly strained. When everyday life feels harder, political loyalty becomes less durable — and incumbents become the natural focus of voter frustration.

We also cannot ignore that Bass is mired in ethical controversy. And now she’s avoiding accountability.

What makes this moment especially combustible is the potential coalition forming beneath the surface: ideological progressives who believe City Hall has not gone far enough, paired with ordinary residents who are simply weary of visible decline. That alignment can be more potent than party labels, endorsements, or fundraising advantages.

In my latest column for the California Post, I argue that Bass’s real vulnerability is not to a Republican opponent but to discontent within her own ideological camp — and that this dynamic could reshape the race in ways few anticipated.

In the full column, you’ll read…

- Why a left-wing challenge may threaten Bass more than a Republican
- How city conditions are overriding partisan loyalty
- The activist model behind Raman’s campaign — and where it’s worked
- How Bass’s record looks to voters who see decline
- Why this race may test progressive governance in major cities

—> READ THE COLUMN HERE

Jon’s Video Analysis, Complementing this Column, Is Below…

Jon takes almost ten minutes to really take a deeper dive on this — including his theory that the person who may want the Democratic Socialist candidates to win the most… is President Trump??? Check it out.

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