Mayors of Los Angeles: What Most People Get Wrong

You’d think running the second-largest city in the United States would be a straightforward gig of cutting ribbons and fixing the occasional pothole. Honestly, it’s more like trying to steer a cruise ship through a narrow canal while the passengers are all screaming for different destinations. When we talk about the mayors of Los Angeles, we aren't just looking at a list of politicians. We’re looking at the architects of a sprawling, chaotic, beautiful mess that somehow functions as a global powerhouse.

Most people assume the Mayor of LA is this all-powerful figure. Kinda like a King of the Coast. In reality? The City Charter actually keeps them on a pretty short leash compared to cities like New York or Chicago. They share a massive amount of power with a 15-member City Council that can be, well, "difficult" to put it mildly.

The Modern Era: Karen Bass and the 2026 Horizon

Right now, as we sit in early 2026, Mayor Karen Bass is the one in the hot seat. She’s the 43rd mayor and the first woman to ever hold the post. If you've lived in LA for more than five minutes, you know the vibe: it's all about homelessness and housing. Bass basically staked her entire reputation on "Inside Safe," her initiative to clear encampments and get people into motels and permanent housing.

It’s working, sort of. Or at least, it’s moving the needle. In late 2025, her office reported a drop in the unhoused population for the first time in years. But man, the headwinds are real. Just last month, she had to navigate a $1 billion budget deficit while trying to avoid the nearly 1,600 layoffs she initially proposed.

And let’s not forget the "Palisades Fire" anniversary she just marked. Dealing with climate-driven disasters is basically part of the job description now. With the 2026 election looming this June, she’s facing challengers like Austin Beutner, the former LAUSD Superintendent. The drama is just getting started.

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The Legend of Tom Bradley

You can’t talk about the mayors of Los Angeles without spending a serious amount of time on Tom Bradley. He wasn't just a mayor; he was a literal era. Serving from 1973 to 1993, he held the office for 20 years. That’s five terms. Nobody else has even come close.

Bradley was a former LAPD lieutenant who became the city’s first Black mayor. He basically built the modern LA skyline. If you’ve ever flown into the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX or taken the Metro B Line (formerly the Red Line) to North Hollywood, you’re interacting with his ghost. He was the one who realized that if LA wanted to be a world city, it needed a world-class airport and actual public transit.

His crown jewel? The 1984 Olympics. It was famously the first profitable Olympics in history. While other cities go bankrupt hosting the games, Bradley’s LA actually made a $225 million surplus.

But it wasn't all sunshine and gold medals. His tenure ended in the shadow of the 1992 Riots. The friction between Bradley and his own Police Chief, Daryl Gates, was legendary and toxic. It showed the limits of mayoral power—even a legend couldn't fully control the LAPD.

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The Men Between the Giants

After Bradley, the city swung back and forth between different styles of leadership.

• Richard Riordan (1993–2001): The "tough enough to turn LA around" guy. He was a multi-millionaire Republican businessman who took over right after the riots and the Northridge Earthquake. He was basically the "fixer."
• James Hahn (2001–2005): He’s the one who famously lost his re-election bid because he helped oust popular LAPD Chief Bernard Parks. It was a gutsy move for public safety, but a political suicide mission.
• Antonio Villaraigosa (2005–2013): The first Latino mayor in over 130 years. Antonio was all about the "Subway to the Sea" and planting a million trees. He didn't quite get the million trees, but he was a master at bringing federal money into the city for transit.
• Eric Garcetti (2013–2022): The tech-savvy, "back to basics" mayor. He dealt with the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic and the explosion of the homelessness crisis. He left for an ambassadorship in India, leaving a legacy that's still being debated in every coffee shop from Silver Lake to Santa Monica.

Why the Mayor’s Job is Actually Harder Than You Think

Here is the thing about being the mayor here: you are the face of every problem, but you only have half the tools to fix them.

The LA Mayor doesn't run the schools—that's the LAUSD Board. They don't run the county jails or the massive social services network—that’s the County Board of Supervisors (often called the "Five Little Queens" because they have so much money and power).

So, when people get mad about the schools or the lack of mental health beds, they yell at the Mayor. But the Mayor has to go beg the County or the School Board for cooperation. It’s a weird, fragmented system that dates back to a 1920s-era fear of "big city bosses" like Tammany Hall. We designed the system to be weak on purpose, and now we wonder why it's hard to get things done.

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What to Look for Next

If you’re watching the 2026 mayoral race, keep your eye on three specific metrics. These are the things that actually define whether a mayor is succeeding or just treading water:

1. The "Street Tapes": Watch the counts of encampments in specific districts. If the numbers don't drop in the San Fernando Valley and South LA specifically, the incumbent is in trouble.
2. LAPD Staffing: The department is shrinking. If the next mayor can’t find a way to recruit officers while also satisfying the push for social justice reform, the "crime" narrative will eat their administration alive.
3. The 2028 Olympics Prep: We are only two years out from the big show. Whoever wins in 2026 will be the "Olympic Mayor." They have to ensure the transit projects (like the D Line extension) are actually finished, or the city will be a parking lot for a month.

The history of the mayors of Los Angeles is a story of people trying to impose order on a city that naturally resists it. From Alpheus Hodges (the first guy back in 1850) to Karen Bass today, the job hasn't changed much: try to keep the lights on and the water flowing while everyone argues about where the sidewalk should go.

To stay informed on the current administration's progress, you should check the official City of Los Angeles Mayor's website for the latest executive directives and budget breakdowns. For a deeper historical dive, the Los Angeles Public Library's digital archives offer a massive collection of photos and documents from the Bradley and Riordan eras. Keep an eye on the June 2026 primary results to see who will be steering the ship toward the '28 Games.