Rae Huang Enters Race for LA Mayor

A Mamdani equivalent in Los Angeles? Some are wondering with housing advocate Rae Huang now in the 2026 race for mayor.

The deputy director of affordable housing group Housing Now aims to unseat Karen Bass, with an agenda that isn’t far off from a blend of the mayor’s own 2021 campaign talking points and those of New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.

While the Los Angeles Times called the the Democratic Socialists of America member (she reportedly pays dues) a “long shot,” it’s notable that Mamdani was a longshot democratic socialist when this year dawned, and another longshot with the same political pedigree, Katie Wilson, just got elected mayor of Seattle. 

Against that backdrop, Huang joins the mix at a time when talking up public housing and free bus rides have sometimes mobilized voters. Indeed, that’s what she highlighted in her campaign launch video, calling Los Angeles “stuck” when it comes to housing, transit and affordability.

The self-described reverend and Sawtelle resident paints a broad brush when it comes to what she intends to tackle: lower rent, housing for all, an economy “for the people, not the billionaires,” renewable energy, free transit, support for small business and public safety by bolstering mental health services.

That was all presented in the video against a montage of imagery that included Bass, the Palisades and Eaton fires and Downtown L.A.’s biggest commercial black eye in the graffiti towers, AKA Oceanwide Plaza.

While Bass’ No. 1 priority was homelessness at the time of her 2022 swearing in, Huang called the mayor’s programs to date “band-aid” solutions. It’s unclear what the mayoral hopeful’s position is on Measure United to House LA, the tax that’s dogged commercial and residential real estate since going into effect in 2023.  

“The city is unaffordable, and our leaders are unaccountable,” Huang offered.

City hall power struggles boil over

That last point of Huang’s comment hits on a big headline from this week: accountability at L.A. City Hall.

What’s clearly an internal battle over who the heck is in charge of the rebuilding contracts spilled out into public view on Monday when Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez bluntly asked “Who’s calling the shots with AECOM and [the city’s Bureau of Engineering]” as Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery members considered whether to move $8 million to the BOE to pay the infrastructure and engineering firm as work gets completed around rebuilding-related strategies.  

Rodriguez’ disbelief that spending is happening so loosely with nothing much to show for it as the one-year mark for the Palisades and Eaton fires nears was palpable as she cried “bullshit” over the city’s numerous “false starts” in getting homes rebuilt. She offered that Bass’ office “totally botched the first few months of this recovery,” first tapping a chief recovery officer in Steve Soboroff, whose clashes with the mayor’s office were well publicized. Then there was a contract with Illinois-based disaster recovery firm Hagerty Consulting that drew the ire of some Palisades residents who wondered what the company was doing and for how much.

Bass’ office dismissed the latest condemnations. 

“While some in the city criticize without providing solutions, Mayor Bass remains focused on leading the fastest disaster recovery effort in modern California history and on getting families home — full stop,” a spokesperson from the mayor’s office said in a statement to The Real Deal.

On Measure ULA

Bass’ idea to have the city council pass an ordinance that would allow for a one-time pause on Measure ULA for Palisades residential deals is inching forward.

The Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery approved a motion this week requesting the city attorney provide a report in the next 30 days on the feasibility of such a pause.

The proposed carveout would apply to single-family homes, condos and other residential properties. Commercial was left out of the discussion with the aim of the pause to “create more housing citywide.” The one-time exemption would be good only for a three-year period.

The effort would seem to address attempts by Traci Park, who represents the Palisades on the city council and also chairs the recovery committee, to have ULA funds funneled to renters who lost their homes from the fire or to workers who lost their jobs as a result of the fire and could not pay for housing. Park said she was told amendments to ULA, a 2022 ballot measure, could only be handled at the ballot box.

ULA was passed as a means of funding affordable housing and to prevent homelessness with tenant rights education, rental assistance and other programs. Why fire survivors facing housing instability would not qualify for such funds under ULA’s current $425 million budget is unclear.

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