Nithya Raman, a sitting member of the Los Angeles City Council and one of the most prominent progressive voices in city politics, has entered the race to become the next mayor of LA.
The 44-year-old, who represents the city’s Fourth District, jumped into the contest just ahead of the filing deadline, setting up a high-stakes primary challenge to incumbent mayor Karen Bass. While she previously endorsed Bass, calling her an "icon", Raman said the city needs "big changes." “I have deep respect for Mayor Bass. We’ve worked closely together on my biggest priorities and her biggest priorities, and there’s significant alignment there,” she told the Times.
“But over the last few months in particular, I’ve really begun to feel like unless we have some big changes in how we do things in Los Angeles, the things we count on are not going to function anymore.”
Bass, 72, who is running for a second term, has been facing mounting criticism over the city's Palisades fire response, which killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes. Now, she will be challenged by Raman with a campaign on housing, homelessness, transparency and "safety in our streets."
What's interesting is that Raman is backed by Democratic Socialists of America, which scored one of the most divisive and controversial wins last fall with the election of New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, a fellow Indian-origin leader like Raman. This immediately makes her a national figure to watch within left-leaning politics.
Who is Nithya Raman?
Among more than two dozen opponents from across the political spectrum, Nithya Raman stands out. She is an immigrant, an urban planner, a homelessness activist and a mother of twins. In 2020, she also became the first woman sworn in to the LA City Council, representing the Fourth District—which includes parts of Koreatown, Hollywood, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, and many other areas of the second-largest city.
Born in a Malayali family in Kerala, India, Raman moved to Louisiana at six years old. She grew up to gain an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a Master's in Urban Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In terms of her career, she is an urban planner who has worked for slum dwellers in India until 2013, when she moved to LA. In LA, she co-founded SELAH, a homeless coalition after serving as co-chair of the Silver Lake Neighbourhood Council Homelessness Committee. Raman also served as the first executive director of Time's Up Entertainment, a women's rights organisation that emerged from MeToo activism.
In 2020, she became the first Asian-American woman and the first South Asian to serve in the City Council. Raman is married to a television screenwriter, Vali Chandrasekaran and mom to young twins Karna and Kaveri.
With her campaign, she will be targeting the youth demanding affordability and the conservatives, wanting restoration after the destructive fires. But she will be competing with reality TV star Spencer Pratt, a victim of the fires, Democratic socialist Rae Huang, Brentwood tech entrepreneur Adam Miller and Asaad Alnajjar, an employee of the Bureau of Street Lighting.
What works best in her favour is that she won't lose completely. Raman would still hold her council seat, since she does not face re-election until 2028.
