With California’s June 2 primary elections less than a week away, the ever-changing governor’s race still seems up for grabs. But for Los Angeles residents, there are plenty of big-ticket races much closer to home on the ballot.

One such race will decide the new congressional candidates to appear on the November ballot, following the passing of Proposition 50 in November 2025. The bill was an effort by state Democrats to combat Texas’ redistricting, which was intended to add more Republican seats to the United States House of Representatives ahead of the November midterm elections. Republicans currently hold a five-seat majority in the House, which Democrats hope to overturn during the midterms. 

Each of California’s congressional districts will send the top two candidates in the primary to the November midterms. 

Municipal candidates for mayor of Los Angeles and city council members, including for USC’s District 9, among others, will also appear on the June ballot. 

Mayoral race

Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass will face 15 challengers in the Los Angeles primary. Bass was the first woman to be mayor of L.A. and has served in the state assembly and in Congress. Successes of her time in office include the decline of street homelessness and crime in the city, with homicide rates at their lowest in over 50 years, according to a July 2025 report on the city’s website. 

Bass fell under national scrutiny following the Palisades and Eaton Fires in January 2025, but she hopes to continue recovery efforts if reelected, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Reality television personality and USC alum Spencer Pratt was behind Bass by eight points in a May 13 poll by Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics. Pratt appeared in MTV’s “The Hills” and was motivated to begin his campaign after losing his home in the Palisades Fire. 

Pratt argues that L.A. is not facing a homelessness crisis, but a drug crisis. His five-step plan in combatting this includes stopping the distribution of Narcan and clean needles, according to his campaign website. 

Nithya Raman, currently polling third ahead of the June election, has served as city councilmember for District 4, which represents parts of Silver Lake, the Hollywood Hills and Reseda. Raman was the first elected city official to win with an endorsement from the Democratic Socialists of America — though they have not endorsed her in this election — according to the L.A. Times. 

While the election is nonpartisan, Raman is running as a progressive and Democrat focused on bettering city services and safety, as well as revitalizing the entertainment industry. In the past four years, Raman has implemented rent caps and introduced the city council motion that led to L.A. becoming a “Sanctuary City.” 

City Council District 9

Six candidates, four of whom visited USC in December 2025, will appear on the ballot for the L.A. City Council District 9 race, with Chris Martin campaigning as a write-in candidate. Moy Valdez, a USC alum and former Undergraduate Student Government senator, launched his campaign for City Council District 9 last summer but will not appear on the ballot. 

The district spans South Central Los Angeles from the L.A. Convention Center to the L.A. Live complex and includes USC’s campus.

DSA-endorsed Estuardo Mazariegos is running to increase wages and lower rent, with special interest in serving the needs of working-class families, according to his campaign website. Part of his goal of increasing affordable housing involves expanding tenant protections, which would continue his work as co-director of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, an organization that fights for economic and racial justice in low-income neighborhoods.

Elmer Roldan, executive director of Communities In Schools of L.A. is focused on increasing opportunities for employment and economic mobility through expanding school-to-career pipelines and making financial support more accessible to small businesses. His campaign priorities also include bringing more green spaces to South Central and supporting immigrant rights organizations, according to his website.

Martha Sánchez is a mental health clinician and adjunct professor at L.A. Mission College whose campaign centers on combating the displacement and gentrification of South Central by expanding tenant rights and protecting long-term residents against rent hikes. Sánchez is a proponent of increasing public safety outside of more policing, but argued for more patrols in South Central neighborhoods, according to the LAist. 

Jose Ugarte, backed by the L.A. County Democratic Party, was chief deputy to City Councilmember Curren Price, who currently represents the district. Ugarte advocates for improving programs to help first-time homebuyers and community-based policing to improve public safety, as well as recruiting more women and people of color to the police force, according to his campaign website.  

According to the City Ethics Commission, Ugarte failed to report outside earnings from his lobbying and political consulting firm, which he registered in 2018, when he returned to City service in 2021 after leaving three years prior. He faced charges from the commission and agreed to pay the $25,000 fine earlier this year, according to the LAist. 

South Central-born Jorge Nuño is focused on creating jobs for young Angelenos, affordable housing and working toward cleaner and safer streets. His campaign, mainly run through his Instagram account, features videos of Nuño and his team cleaning up sidewalks around South Central. 

Jorge Hernandez Rosas, according to his social media posts, is running on a platform of “Respect. Unity. Dignity.” Rosas has not accepted any campaign contributions, according to records from the City Ethics Commission, nor any endorsements. Rosas, an ESL teacher for the L.A. Unified School District, intends to improve the quality of education and support local police in public safety efforts. 

Where to vote

Voting centers opened on May 23 for early in-person voting.

Voters can drop off ballots or vote in person at Denker Recreation Center, located at 1550 W. 35th Pl., or Ahmanson Senior Center, at 3990 Bill Robertson Ln., from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

At USC Village, a Los Angeles County Vote Center will be open June 2 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., at 3215 S. Hoover St. in room UVN-1200. There will also be a vote-by-mail box where ballots can be dropped off, which will be locked at 8 p.m. on election day.