Karen Bass, Xavier Becerra make final LA campaign push as Raman staffer racism controversy erupts

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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass made a last-minute push for votes Monday, joining gubernatorial hopeful Xavier Becerra at a downtown LA cafe just 24 hours before Election Day as she battles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman to keep her job.

The Democrats arrived at Homegirl Cafe at 8 a.m., greeting dozens of customers and staff at the restaurant, which offers job training and second chances to former gang members and previously incarcerated people.

Bass and Becerra face dramatically different political battles.

Becerra enters Election Day with a commanding 27-point lead over Republican Steve Hilton in a recent Berkeley IGS poll, 61% to 34%.

Bass is fighting for her political survival against City Councilwoman Nithya Raman, with the latest Berkeley IGS/Los Angeles Times poll showing the two deadlocked at 40% each and 19% of voters still undecided.

That’s a dramatic shift from an October California Post/McLaughlin & Associates poll that showed Raman leading Bass 46.7% to 38.8%, with 13.5% undecided.

The downtown stop came as Bass wrapped up her whirlwind “15 Days of Action” campaign blitz, crisscrossing Los Angeles to rally supporters and shore up votes before Tuesday’s election.

Becerra, meanwhile, has been campaigning across California, including a Sunday appearance in Hollywood alongside Gov. Gavin Newsom and other prominent Democrats.

But the final campaign push also brought a fresh controversy involving Raman’s campaign.

The California Post asked Bass about Eric Cheng, a Raman campaign staffer who was let go following racist social media posts.

“Maybe it’s giving you an indication of how she would lead the city,” Bass told The Post.

“The city needs to move forward. We can’t deal in upheaval, so I don’t know how she would have a staff member that would make racist comments on Twitter. That says a lot.”

Raman’s campaign condemned the comments and confirmed the staffer’s departure.

“We’re aware of a video posted by a part-time staffer on his personal social media account commenting about the Michigan Senate race. The comments in it are reprehensible and do not reflect our campaign. We apologize. This staffer is no longer with the campaign,” the campaign told The Post.

The exchange came as Bass battled to convince voters she deserves another four years to tackle the city’s mounting problems.

Los Angeles’ homeless population has climbed to 45,194, while LAPD staffing has fallen to levels not seen in nearly 25 years.

Bass has pledged to rebuild the police force to 9,500 officers by the 2028 Olympics and overhaul the city’s homelessness system, while Raman has campaigned on changing City Hall’s approach to public safety, housing affordability and homelessness.

Bass cast her ballot Sunday as part of her final campaign push.

Election day is Tuesday, Nov 3.

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