Nithya Raman secured a victory in the race for Los Angeles mayor on Thursday, narrowly defeating incumbent Karen Bass to lead the country’s second-largest city. The result signals a significant political transition, as Los Angeles joins Washington DC and New York City in electing democratic socialist mayors. As well the nation’s capital, Washington DC, have now all elected democratic socialist mayors, the young progressive’s victory means that the two largest cities in the US. Here’s some key facts about LA’s new mayor. According to but, he added: “Even though every city councilperson, They were standing with Karen Bass, not very many of the people they represent followed them to the polls.”.
Raman first emerged on the political scene in 2020 when she successfully challenged an incumbent city council member, an event one local political analyst described as a political earthquake. It marked the first time an establishment incumbent had been unseated in 17 years. Reflecting on her initial campaign, Raman credited her success to extensive grassroots organizing, noting that her team knocked on 80,000 doors and mobilized 2,000 volunteers by the general election. Raman broke into politics in 2020 by unseating an establishment Democrat on LA’s powerful city council. We had 1,000 people just in our Slack.”. “So the establishment doesn’t like Raman: so what. Raman is proud of her willingness to break with allies and take ‘unpopular’ positions.
Her platform centers on housing policy, homelessness, and tenant protections. An urban planner by trade, Raman co-founded the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition in 2017, an organization that remains active today with 800 volunteers focused on outreach and advocacy. Her mayoral agenda emphasizes expanding housing construction across all income levels, a goal supported by the advocacy group Yimby Action. According to raman, an urban planner, has, She joined DSA-LA, which she did in 2019, not because of an “ ideological drive ”, but “because it was one of the only organizations that was meaningfully talking about housing affordability in the city”. Everything from deed-restricted affordable housing to market-rate housing to social housing to homeless shelters”, her mayoral platform calls for building more housing “at all income levels. In 2017, Raman was one of five co-founders of the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition, a group that organizes local volunteers in north-east LA to do outreach and advocacy with their unhoused neighbors. The group, which is still active and now claims 800 volunteers, is focused on recognizing “unhoused individuals as fellow members of our community worthy of the same dignity, respect and representation afforded to any ho. After she beat out reality star Spencer Pratt for second place and advanced into the runoff against Bass, DSA-LA did “enthusiastically” endorse her, but noted that “Councilmember Raman’s relationship with DSA-LA, and the.
The mayor-elect maintains a strong network among Hollywood progressives, having previously served as the entertainment director for Time’s Up during the peak of the #MeToo movement. While many older Hollywood figures backed her opponent, Raman garnered support from younger comedians and writers. Her husband, Vali Chandrasekaran, is a veteran television writer, and she also engaged in a widely publicized private meeting with former Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. At the height of the #MeToo era, Raman served as the entertainment director for the Time’s Up, the organization founded by powerful women in Hollywood that created a legal defense fund for women in all professions to fight back against pervasive sexual assault and sexual harassment. While older Hollywood celebrities such as Jane Fonda and Samuel L Jackson endorsed Bass, Raman secured endorsements from younger celebrities and comedians such as Mindy Kaling, Adam Scott, and Jaboukie Young-White.
Despite her rise, Raman’s relationship with local political institutions has been marked by tension. Notably, she ran her mayoral campaign without the support of her city council colleagues, including the three other democratic socialists on the council, all of whom endorsed Bass. During a debate, Bass confronted her on this lack of internal support, stating that colleagues found her difficult to work with. However, this outsider status proved to be an asset for many voters disillusioned with the existing political establishment.
Her affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has also been complex.
Although DSA-LA endorsed her for mayor, the relationship saw friction over her stance on Israel, which nearly led to the national organization rescinding her endorsement in a 14-13 vote in early November. Which eventually resulted in conflict with the chapter over a 2024 endorsement from a pro-Israel Dem club”, the group wrote in its voter guide, noting that they believed she had since “worked with us to improve on this issue”, among Raman’s downs was “an inconsistent position on Palestine. Despite the endorsement drama, DSA-LA was quick to celebrate Raman’s victory, posting a photo captioned, “ YUP, that’s our mayor!!!” even before the Associated Press had called the election in her favor.
Raman has previously broken with the DSA on specific policies, such as her desire to reform the city’s mansion tax.
She has also clarified that her interest in the group was driven by its focus on housing issues rather than strict adherence to anti-capitalist doctrine.
Raman, who was caught in the 2022 city hall audio tape leak scandal involving establishment Democrats, maintained a base of support that proved resilient. When she won reelection to the city council in 2024 by a large margin, the support base remained steady. During her victory night, leadership from the Unite Here local 11 union observed that while the traditional political class may have favored Bass, the broader electorate clearly signaled a desire for a different direction.
