UCLA poll finds 40% of voters undecided on next LA mayor

With just two months to go before a primary election for Los Angeles' next mayor, 40% of the electorate remains undecided, signaling volatile weeks of campaigning ahead, according to a new poll by the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.

Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass led the field with 25% support, followed by conservative television personality Spencer Pratt at 11% and Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman at 9%, according to the poll of likely LA primary voters.

Also on the ballot are tech entrepreneur Adam Miller and housing activist Rae Huang, who each received 3%. Nine percent of respondents indicated they would support "a different candidate." A total of 14 candidates are vying for the city's top office.

If no candidate wins a majority in the June 2 primary, the top two vote-getters will face off in November to determine who will lead the nation's second-most populous city.

"It is unusual for 40% of likely voters to be unsure of their choice just two months before an LA mayoralty election," said Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, who served for decades as an elected leader in Los Angeles city and county. "Although Mayor Bass faces the most challenging reelection of an incumbent mayor in decades, it is highly likely that this election will be decided in a November runoff. A lot can change between now and then, so it's a wide-open race."

The poll, which surveyed 813 likely primary voters between March 15 and March 29, is part of UCLA Luskin's annual Quality of Life Index measuring Angelenos' perception of their well-being across issues like safety, cost of living, health care and the environment. This year's survey was conducted in partnership with the California Community Foundation, and complete results will be released on April 15 at the UCLA Luskin Summit.

The large bloc of undecided voters indicates that many are still assessing Bass' record against her opponents' qualifications. The 2025 Quality of Life Index, released weeks after the catastrophic Los Angeles wildfires, found that the mayor was viewed unfavorably by 49% of respondents, a significant increase from 32% a year earlier.

Undecided voters may be unfamiliar with many of the names on this year's ballot. Among the more prominent are Pratt, best known for his appearances on reality television shows, and Raman, elected in 2020 to represent Los Angeles' 4th District, which stretches from Reseda to Los Feliz. Raman entered the mayor's race just hours before the filing deadline closed on Feb. 7.

This year's UCLA Luskin poll also measured support for candidates across different demographic groups.

• Bass, the first Black woman to lead Los Angeles, drew the support of 53% of African American respondents, with 29% undecided.
• Among white, Latino, and Asian and Pacific Islander respondents, the undecided category outpaced support for Bass.
• Among voters age 65 or older, Bass received support from 31%, with 36% undecided.
• Among voters aged 40 to 64, 23% supported Bass. Collectively, her top four opponents drew 30% support. A similar pattern emerged among voters aged 18 to 39, with 21% supporting Bass and 29% supporting one of her four closest contenders.
• Undecided voters were the largest segment in each of the age categories.

The poll, conducted by public opinion research firm FM3 Research by phone and online in English and Spanish, has a margin of error of 4%. Funding for the Quality of Life Index is provided by Meyer and Renee Luskin through the Los Angeles Initiative, as well as the California Community Foundation.