Nithya Raman, a little-known Los Angeles City Council member backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, has defeated Mayor Karen Bass, an upset that will alter the trajectory of the nation’s second-largest city.
The India-born Raman's upstart campaign marked a generational shift at City Hall as voters followed the lead of New York, where democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani was elected last year. Raman, though, never attracted the same level of national attention and stressed her willingness to break with the progressive party at times during the campaign.
Her entry into the race marked a stunning change of heart after she had initially endorsed Bass, once her ally. She said the city had reached a “breaking point” and announced her own candidacy just before the filing deadline.
Bass said in a statement that she called Raman to congratulate her on her victory.
“While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken,” Bass said. “I have committed to ensuring a smooth and seamless transition. Moving this city forward is what Los Angeles needs from all of us.”
Bass becomes the first Los Angeles mayor in two decades to lose a bid for reelection. Her first term was undone by the deadly Palisades Fire, which ignited when she was out of the country and caught the fire department unprepared. The devastation left many voters with the unshakeable feeling that Bass should be held to account, and she never recovered.
Raman's rise came in a year that saw Democratic divisions across the country, with insurgent left-wing candidates challenging establishment rivals.
Raman is promising to oust the police chief, whom she views as too accommodating with federal immigration authorities. She also wants to improve basic services that have deteriorated for years and left neighborhoods with dirty, pothole-ridden streets, buckled sidewalks and broken streetlights.
Raman called Bass’ efforts to reduce homelessness ineffective. She's promising a new approach on the crisis that would expand medical teams for people who live in encampments and on the streets in an effort to build trust and eventually bring them indoors. Raman also wants to provide more housing to move people out of hotels rented by the city for those who are homeless.
She said her plans could reduce the number of people sleeping in tents and encampments by at least half by 2028, when the city will host the Olympic Games. However, the problem has long proved intractable, despite billions spent in the region.
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Raman offered change
Raman, 45, was the face of change in a year when voters were restless over long-running problems that persisted under Bass, 73. A Berkeley IGS/LA Times poll conducted from Oct. 19 to 25 found that about 4 in 10 likely voters said reducing the number of homeless encampments should be a top priority for the next mayor to address, while about 3 in 10 said that about ensuring public safety or building more affordable housing.
She was able to overcome criticism from Bass that she was “not ready for primetime” and too inexperienced to run a city with 3.8 million people, and she capitalized on anxiety over the future.
“Our city is in crisis,” she said in one ad. The ad showed a lectern with no one behind it at the site of a massive warehouse fire from last summer, the homeless epicenter of Skid Row and shuttered malls and storefronts. “Where is our mayor?” Raman asked.
Bass argued that she made enough progress to merit a second four-year term, and she branded Raman’s views on policing and homelessness as “extreme.”
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Top Democrats lined up with Bass
Raman's victory came despite limited backing from the Democratic establishment. Bass had support from Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with nearly every member of the City Council. Bass served in the state Legislature and Congress before becoming mayor in 2022 and was under consideration to be former President Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020.
In an important signal to the business community, billionaire developer Rick Caruso said he was voting for Bass, but stopped short of formally endorsing the candidate he lost to in the 2022 mayoral race.
Raman, an urban planner, picked up notable support from advocacy and political groups, including Our Revolution, which was founded by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and the Sierra Club. But she was thin on endorsements from prominent local politicians.
She landed a widely publicized private meeting with former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was not involved in the race, that hinted at her efforts to broaden her circle. Expanding her network of allies could be crucial as she begins governing a city that's home to a struggling entertainment industry, a major port, world-class universities and research institutions and serves as a major tourist destination.
