Former Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner is running for the mayor of Los Angeles, becoming the most high-profile candidate to officially enter the 2026 race so far.
In an interview Saturday night with Southern California News Group, Beutner leveled criticism at Mayor Karen Bass.
Beutner said Los Angeles is “adrift” and that the city government has failed to meet the basic needs of residents. He said he’s entering the 2026 mayoral race to help lead what he called a “citywide turnaround,” citing concerns over affordability, safety and the everyday challenges of living in L.A.
“It seems every day Los Angeles is becoming less affordable, less safe, and a more difficult place to live. We’re adrift,” Beutner said. “When people live in Los Angeles, they know the problems are there. What we need are elected officials to get on and solve them, and so we need to quit talking about problems and start solving them.”
Bass also led the city’s response to the January wildfires, though her absence at the onset of the fires — while traveling in Ghana — drew criticism from some residents and from then – Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, who was later pushed out of her role.
Bass responded to criticism by issuing an emergency order to expedite rebuilding in fire‑destroyed areas and streamlining permit processes for infrastructure repair. She has also defended her administration’s handling of fire department and public safety staffing, denying that recent budget cuts compromised the city’s emergency response.
Bass also confronted a federal immigration crackdown in June, when heavily armed federal agents carried out raids across Los Angeles, prompting widespread protests. In response, she vocally condemned the sweeps, criticized the deployment of National Guard troops, and worked with local allies to defend immigrant communities — actions that helped her regain political ground after early criticism of her handling of the January wildfires.
SCNG has reached out to Bass’ campaign for comment.
Beutner confirmed his intent to run during Saturday’s interview.
He is the most prominent challenger so far to Bass for her second term in office. Bass, a fellow Democrat and a former congresswoman elected in 2022, has made homelessness her top priority, launching initiatives like Inside Safe to move unhoused Angelenos indoors. Rick Caruso, who lost to Bass in 2022, has also signaled interest in a potential 2026 run, though he has not formally entered the race. The developer has also weighed whether to run for California governor.
The 65-year-old Beutner has held a range of high-profile roles in the city over the past two decades. He served as deputy mayor under Antonio Villaraigosa, publisher of the Los Angeles Times, and LAUSD superintendent from 2018 to 2021, leading the district through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also founded the nonprofit Vision To Learn, which provides free glasses to low-income students, and led the successful Proposition 28 campaign to boost arts and music funding in public schools.
Beutner said those experiences — from managing crises to advocating for underserved communities — shaped his belief that leadership is about making government work for everyday residents.
“A good superintendent’s job is to make sure teachers and cafeteria workers and bus drivers have what they need,” he said. “And a good mayor, their job is to make sure the firefighters on the front lines, or the people cleaning the streets or fixing the street lights, or the police keeping us safe, that they have what they need, and that’s where we fall short.”
Beutner said the January wildfires served as a wake-up call for many Angelenos about the state of the city, exposing not just the physical damage, but what he sees as a broader failure of city leadership to respond to crises or meet residents’ basic needs.
“The fires, if anything, are a metaphor,” Beutner said. “Think of a broken fire hydrant, really a metaphor for a city that’s not well led and not well run.”
He pointed to aging infrastructure, unaffordable housing, persistent homelessness and what he called a lack of urgency at City Hall.
“What the fires I think showed all of us is we don’t have leadership in City Hall that we can count on. That’s an awakening,” he said. “ We need leadership who can rise to the occasion and we need leadership who treat as a crisis the lack of affordability in Los Angeles, the lack of safety, the never ending challenge with homelessness, the broken infrastructure, the streetlights, the sidewalks.”
Beutner said he will share specific policy proposals in the coming weeks. His focus, he said, will be on restoring trust in city government and making Los Angeles work better for the people who live here.
“I, like many people who live in Los Angeles, want to see a brighter future for our families, for our kids, for our neighbors. That’s what this is about,” Beutner said. “And I think my 17 years in public life have given me a pretty good understanding of how to work with people, how to make sure everybody’s voice is heard, and ultimately how to get something done.”
As of now, eight individuals have filed to run in the 2026 mayoral race, according to the L.A. City Ethics Commission. Beutner has not yet formally filed. Among those listed, only Mayor Karen Bass and longtime city civil engineer Asaad Y. Alnajjar have reported raising campaign funds.
Also running at this point are: Ernesto Castelli, Rahaf Hasu, Tom Simson, Kridikel R.D. TruthBey, Franziska Von Fischer and Vincent Wali.