Councilwoman Nithya Raman’s 11th-hour entrance into the race for Los Angeles mayor infuriated establishment Democrats, thrilled many progressives and terrified some conservatives. It also offered the provocative prospect that the political left could increase its sway at City Hall, just as it did with the election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor in New York City.
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The field includes about 40 candidates, including community organizers, nonprofit founders and one reality TV star.
A clear-eyed look at Raman and her candidacy suggests several things:
• Mayor Karen Bass’s path to reelection became considerably more challenging and a runoff is a virtual certainty.
• Liberals largely will be divided between Bass, 72, and her 44-year-old challenger when it comes time to vote in the June 2 primary.
• Like Mamdani in New York, Raman doesn’t fit neatly into the extreme-leftist branding that the right would like to saddle her with. (Witness the screaming front-page headline in the Monday’s California Post: “RED RAMAN, Extreme socialist agenda behind new mayoral candidate.”)
Born in India, Raman moved to Louisiana at age 6 with her family. She got a B.A. in political theory at Harvard University and a master’s degree in urban planning at MIT. Her husband Vali Chandrasekaran, also Harvard-educated, has been a writer and producer on shows like “30 Rock” and “Modern Family.” They have twins, a boy and girl, in elementary school.
Nithya Raman next to members of her staff, clockwise from left, Jesse Alson-Milkman, Jessica Salans, Meghan Choi, Sachin Medhekar and Josh Androsky.
(Los Angeles Times)
Before starting in politics, Raman worked on issues like sanitation and homelessness — founding a nonprofit to deal with the latter. She ran for City Council in 2020 and beat out Councilman David Ryu in a district that reached from Silver Lake to Sherman Oaks. That made her the first challenger to defeat a sitting councilmember in 17 years.
High hopes for Democratic Socialists of America
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) supported Raman, announcing a sea change in L.A. politics. Three more DSA-supported councilmembers — Hugo Soto-Martinez, Eunisses Hernandez and Ysabel Jurado — have followed Raman onto the council. That has their supporters hoping to one day win an eight-vote majority on the 15-member council.
Despite their new influence, no one had yet been talking about a serious DSA-driven play for the mayor’s office, until Raman’s late entry. She got into the race just hours before filing closed Saturday, a move that shocked many political insiders because she and Bass have been close allies.
The councilwoman’s work on behalf of renters arguably has been her signature issue. In November, she helped lead the first strengthening of L.A.’s rent stabilization law in four decades, capping annual rent increases at 4%. Raman had pushed for an even-tighter 3% cap, saying that making the city more affordable means “the entire city thrives.”
She also voted, along with other DSA-supported councilmembers, against police raises, arguing that they would trigger cuts to other core services. Raman believes more money should be shifted to social services and non-police interventions. She also voted last May, along with 11 other councilmembers, to cut police hiring in half.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman, from left, then-Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian and former LAHSA CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellum at a news conference to kick off the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s 2024 homeless count.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Raman opposed aggressive interventions on the unhoused
And on homelessness she has joined the liberal wing of the council in opposing what they see as overly aggressive interventions. Raman was in the losing minority in voting against a city ordinance to allow councilmembers to create 500-foot buffer zones prohibiting homeless encampments around parks, freeway overpasses and other “sensitive” locations. She said the measure would merely push the homeless to other neighborhoods, without solving the problem.
But Raman has bucked other DSA-aligned councilmembers in voting at least twice in favor of city budgets that the others said devoted too much money to the LAPD. And she has not fit the leftist caricature in other instances: She pushed a proposal to ease Measure ULA, the so-called “mansion tax,” because of a fear that the levy on property sales would stymie apartment construction. And she won the backing of Democrats for Israel, which has been described as a liberal Zionist group, thereby earning censure from a DSA group, which has vehemently opposed Israel in its conflict with Palestine.
“Nithya is not a diehard ideological person or strident in any way,” said Mike Bonin, a former council colleague who now heads the Pat Brown Institute of Politics at Cal State Los Angeles and is remaining neutral in the mayor’s race. “She is very independent.”
Today’s top stories 
A sold sign is posted in front of a home.
(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Three SoCal cities are among the least affordable in the world for homebuyersLos Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego rank among the world’s least affordable cities for homebuyers when comparing property costs to local incomes.A single buyer in L.A. earning the average salary can afford only 28% of a typical home’s purchase price.Limited housing construction combined with strong job markets and regional amenities have driven Southern California home prices to historic extremes.San Francisco teachers go on strikeSan Francisco public schools shut down Monday as teachers went on strike demanding improved healthcare benefits and pay raises, leaving the families of some 50,000 students scrambling for child care and meals.The San Francisco teachers’ strike could set the stage for more to come in California, where educators in other major districts, including Los Angeles, have signaled that they, too, were gearing up to head to the picket lines to demand better pay, smaller class sizes and more resources.L.A.’s warm stretch is endingForecasters say an unseasonable pattern of high temperatures in Southern California will end after Monday, bringing cooler weather and showers later this week.Temperatures are expected to drop into the 60s on Tuesday and remain there for the rest of the week. California’s community colleges are moving toward offering more bachelor’s degrees.California State University is contesting 16 proposals, saying they duplicate their offerings.The proposed degree programs have stirred debate about the changing role of community colleges.What else is going onCommentary and opinionsICE has escalated to illegal home invasions. This will end poorly, writes guest contributor Raul A. Reyes.Puerto Rican journalist and guest contributor Tatiana Tenreyro unpacks the most Puerto Rican moments of Bad Bunny’s monumental Super Bowl halftime show.This morning’s must readsOther must readsFor your downtime 
For Lunar New Year, Canada-founded Big Way Hot Pot is doing a “Hotpot of Fortune” giveaway.
(Big Way Hot Pot)
Going outStaying inAnd finally … your photo of the day 
Patrons eat and line up outside of Villa’s Tacos Highland Park location on Monday, Feb. 9.
(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)
Today’s great photo is from Times photographer Ronaldo Bolanos at Villas Tacos Highland Park. The L.A. taquería is basking in the afterglow of its Super Bowl halftime show appearance.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jim Rainey, staff reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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