Only 25% of LA voters back Karen Bass for mayor as homeless people squat in sewers, wildfire disaster rebuild drags on

Despite incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass leading the field in the 2026 race for her position, over half of LA voters in a recent poll conducted have an unfavorable opinion of her. This comes as reports have revealed homeless people in her city resorting to living in the sewers, and more than a year after the disastrous wildfires that destroyed parts of the city.

UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies/LA Times poll found that just 25 percent of voters support Bass, who is in the lead among all candidates. In second place is City Councilmember Nithya Taman at 17 percent, and conservative TV star Spencer Pratt came in third with 14 percent. An additional 25 percent of voters were undecided.


56 percent of voters said they had an unfavorable opinion of Bass, more than any other candidate in the field. Just 31 percent had a favorable opinion.

Dan Schnur, a politics professor at USC, UC Berkeley and Pepperdine, told the LA Times that the poll is "borderline catastrophic" for Bass due to the weak field of candidates she faces. "That she’s having this much trouble against this field, against such a little-known field of opponents, bodes very, very poorly for her," he said. "The only thing saving her at this point is that the top tier of potential candidates who were considering running against her decided to stay out of this race."

The poll comes as reports have revealed homeless people living within the sewers of South Los Angeles. Fox 11 reported seeing trash, human waste, flies, and an "overpowering stench" when they viewed inside a storm drain, and saw a person climbing out of the drain moments before.

Juan Naula, from the nonprofit Clean LA With Me, told the outlet that he saw two people come from the storm drain while cleaning the street near 88th Street and South Grand Avenue on Monday. He said, "I can’t explain that. A person living like a rat — worse than a rat. Come on." He said he has seen others living underground in recent weeks. Bass’ office called the discovery "tragic and unacceptable," and noted that homelessness has declined by 17 percent under Bass’ leadership.

The poll also comes as Bass has received criticism in the wake of the early 2025 wildfires. She drew scrutiny when it was revealed that she had been overseas in Ghana when the Palisades fire broke out and claimed that she hadn't been aware of the dangerous fire conditions that had been forecasted. A report from January, one year after the fires, revealed that just 13 percent of homes destroyed had permits to rebuild.

In February, a judge cleared the way for a massive lawsuit against the city and state for their handling of the Lachman fire, which was not fully extinguished and led to the Palisades fire. Alex “Trey” Robertson, the lead attorney on the case representing thousands of fire victims, told the California Post that the Palisades After-Action Fire Report showed Bass’ office putting "their thumbprint on the scale." Her office has been questioned as to whether it softened the language in the report.