Fox 11 canceled its upcoming Los Angeles mayoral forum after Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman withdrew from the event.
The forum, hosted in collaboration with the League of Women Voters and the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs, was forced to cancel as only two candidates remained to debate.
Mayor Bass withdrew from participating in the forum on Thursday, saying she would instead travel to Sacramento to lobby state officials for funding on issues of homelessness and Palisades fire recovery. Councilmember Raman initially agreed to participate in order to debate the incumbent mayor. However, she pulled out of the forum on Monday amid word of her opponent’s absence.
Five candidates were invited and four candidates originally committed to participate: Bass, Raman, businessman Adam Miller and community advocate Rae Huang. Though, Spencer Pratt declined, citing a scheduling conflict.
“We are very disappointed the forum is not taking place,” representatives for the hosting organizations said in a statement Monday. “These forums provide voters with the opportunity to hear candidates share their perspectives, respond to questions and engage with one another on issues facing Los Angeles.”
Rev. Huang expressed her disappointment in the cancellation in an X post Monday. She said the last minute withdrawals are part of a larger trend that demonstrates the candidates’ “inability to show up for the public unless it’s politically advantageous.”
“I am maybe not surprised, but I’m just definitely furious,” she said. “Not because they’re dropping out to debate me but because of the way that our institutions and our leaders have been gatekeeping their ability to keep power amongst themselves.”
This is the second time Mayor Bass and Councilmember Raman have backed out of a public debate forum in this very important election cycle, days before the confirmed event – a trend that demonstrates their inability to show up for the public unless it's politically advantageous to… pic.twitter.com/N9Je8AhZ75
— Rev. Rae Huang (@raeforla) May 11, 2026
Miller also shared his frustration with his competitors for pulling out o fthe debate.
“If you can’t be bothered to show up for a debate, why should voters think you’ll ever show up for them as Mayor?” he wrote in an X post.
The event was scheduled to air live on Fox 11 on Wednesday and was to be moderated by Fox 11 anchors Marla Tellez and Bob DeCastro.
NBC4’s mayoral debate saw three of the leading candidates participate, Bass, Pratt and Raman. Bass and Raman also went head-to-head on Tuesday in front of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association. Wednesday’s forum was expected to be the last featuring leading candidates for mayor before the June 2 primary.
