Washington, Oct 15 — Indian-American Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman has called for Police Chief Jim McDonnell to be replaced over the department's handling of immigration raids, while Mayor Karen Bass warned that removing him before the 2028 Olympics would send the force into "disarray".
The two clashed on Tuesday in the only televised head-to-head debate of the mayoral runoff, hosted by NBC4 and Telemundo 52 in Universal City, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Raman said the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) appeared to be protecting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, striking "fear in the heart of immigrant communities here".
She did not commit to a timeline for the change.
"It is not a unilateral decision by the mayor… It's not something I can immediately set a timeline on," Raman said.
Bass pushed back sharply.
"I don't think you have any idea what it takes to identify a police chief," she said.
"Now is not the time to turn the city over to Nithya Raman," Bass added.
Raman accused Bass of being "missing in action" during the Palisades fire and said City Hall was in "a crisis of trust".
Bass responded: "I am so profoundly sorry that I was not in my city when my city needed me."
The two also sparred over an Instagram video in which Raman's campaign used the words "fascist liars". Raman said the video had been mis-edited and was taken down. Bass told her, "You are not ready for prime time".
Post-debate assessments were mixed. Politico's California Playbook said there was no knockout and noted that Raman's ties to the Democratic Socialists of America never came up. Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez gave Bass the edge.
On the prediction market Kalshi, Raman's odds of winning rose to 57 per cent after the debate, from 55 per cent before it, with Bass at 43 per cent.
No new opinion poll has been released since the debate.
Bass led the June 2 primary with 34 per cent to Raman's 29 per cent. A September Berkeley IGS/Los Angeles Times poll put Raman ahead at 39 per cent to Bass's 28 per cent, with about a third of voters undecided.
Each candidate has raised about $2.5 million for the runoff. Outside groups have spent heavily. The Los Angeles Police Protective League has put at least $3.5 million behind Bass, while a carpenters' council has spent $9 million backing Raman, two-thirds of it from donor Aaron Sosnick.
If elected, Raman would be the first Indian-American mayor of Los Angeles.
The runoff will be held on November 3.
Los Angeles, the second-largest city in the United States, has been at the centre of protests and legal battles over federal immigration enforcement raids. The city will host the Summer Olympics in 2028.