Who holds this office?
Karen Ruth Bass is the current officeholder.
The official roster reports this term from Dec 12, 2022 through Dec 13, 2026.
READING THIS ENTRYLocal government
How to interpret this record
Karen Ruth Bass — Mayor, Los Angeles
Local government is a collection of institutions with different boundaries and responsibilities. A municipality, school district and special district can serve overlapping places without being the same organization.
Map the institution, not just the city name
A mailing address can sit inside several governmental boundaries. A county, municipality, school district and special-purpose body may each make different decisions. The Census of Governments provides a structured way to identify governmental units; a unit’s existence does not automatically tell you who currently holds each seat or when its next election occurs.
Distinguish a directory from a live roster
An institutional directory describes organizations. An official roster describes people connected to offices at a stated time. These sources may be published by different agencies on different schedules. Electionpedia links the institution and the person when the evidence supports a match, while preserving the distinction between the source’s reference year and the latest date the file was checked.
Read the full local government guide →Local public office · official government record
Mayor
Los Angeles, CaliforniaCurrent holder: Karen Ruth Bass
What this office actually does
City Mayor: powers, limits, and control
Provides city executive leadership, but the actual job ranges from a strong administrator to a primarily ceremonial presiding officer depending on the charter.
COMMONLY CAN
Carry out or supervise city policy when the charter grants executive authority.
DOES NOT CONTROL ALONE
Assume every city department reports to the mayor; council-manager systems may place administration with a professional manager.
This permanent office has a certified candidate field.
The election record stays separate from the current-holder record and preserves City Clerk ballot order.
Permanent office accountability
Campaign commitments connected to public actions
These timelines stay attached to the person and this office while the permanent office record itself survives future elections and officeholder changes. Statuses are evidence descriptions, not kept-or-broken grades.
HomelessnessDeclare a city state of emergency on homelessness on the first day in office.Action completed →Public safetyCreate an Office of Community Safety separate from the Police Department.Action completed →HomelessnessBring more than 17,000 people experiencing homelessness indoors during the first year.Official reporting says threshold exceeded →Public safetyReturn the Los Angeles Police Department to its authorized strength of 9,700 officers.Target not reached as of source date →
Open the complete tracker and source policy →Official 2026 candidacy requirements are normalized.
See the City Clerk filing sequence, eligibility text, fee and signature alternatives, term, and dated salary. The 2026 filing deadline has passed.
Official roster fields
Mayor record
- Current holder
- Karen Ruth Bass
- Office
- Mayor
- Term began
- Dec 12, 2022
- Term ends
- Dec 13, 2026
- Official office
- Open official website ↗