{"id":492407,"date":"2026-10-11T07:56:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T07:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/492407\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T07:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T07:56:12","slug":"mayoral-candidate-nithya-raman-emphasizes-youth-representation-at-royce-hall-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/492407\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayoral candidate Nithya Raman emphasizes youth representation at Royce Hall event\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman pledged to improve representation for young people and historically underserved communities in City Hall at a Friday event in Royce Hall.<\/p>\n

About 70 people attended the event \u2013 organized by Bruin Democrats at UCLA and Black Los Angeles Young Democrats \u2013 which aimed to encourage young people to vote in the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Raman, a city councilmember representing parts of the San Fernando Valley, is challenging incumbent Karen Bass for LA mayor.<\/p>\n

The event was also hosted by the University of California\u2019s chapter of the NAACP and Black Bruins.<\/p>\n

Bass and Raman received 34% and 29% of the vote, respectively, during the nonpartisan June primary. A September UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll found Raman leading Bass by 11 percentage points in the midterm elections.<\/p>\n

[Related: LA mayor candidates Karen Bass, Nithya Raman advance to general election<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Raman said in an interview that she has run multiple campaigns focused on bringing underrepresented voters into local politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my first race, we knocked on 80,000 doors, including so many renters who had never voted in municipal elections before,\u201d she said. \u201cWe made the case to them that City Hall could do more for them and could work better for them. That\u2019s the same case that I was making tonight, and I don\u2019t believe this city can be successful if we\u2019re not serving young people and if we\u2019re not serving Black people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raman said in a speech that if elected, she would increase tree cover and green spaces in low-income neighborhoods to combat extreme heat in LA. She added that she plans to expand the city\u2019s unarmed crisis response team and support the city\u2019s Reparations Advisory Commission, which makes recommendations to the city for providing reparations for Black people living in LA.<\/p>\n

Raman pledged to appoint people who can represent underserved communities and young people to various city commissions and administrative roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need younger voices who understand the challenges that young people are facing as they are trying to make it in a city that is increasingly unhospitable to them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Raman said in her speech that while she respects Bass\u2019 years of public service, she believes that Bass has failed to respond to and take accountability for several issues, including the 2025 LA fires, persistent homelessness and rising unaffordability. Bass faced criticism after she left for a trip to Ghana shortly before the LA fires, despite the National Weather Service issuing an extreme fire warning.<\/p>\n

Raman supported Bass during the 2022 mayoral election bid but announced that she would challenge Bass in the 2026 race just hours before the filing deadline.<\/p>\n

[Related:Karen Bass faces scrutiny for wildfire response, LAFD budget cuts<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Raman said she plans to advocate for affordable housing, adding that gentrification and other forms of displacement have disproportionately affected communities of color in LA.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to make sure that the benefits of new construction accrue to young people, to Black people who have been locked out of a homeownership market that has been very deeply unjust for a long time,\u201d Raman said in a speech.<\/p>\n

Political organizers also presented several state ballot measures that voters will decide on in November.<\/p>\n

BLAYD Vice President Bryant Odega said it is important to educate voters on state ballot measures such as Propositions 3 and 4 because they directly impact voters\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n

If approved, the ballot measures would make the state\u2019s high-income tax rate permanent to fund public education and repeal a ban on public financing for election campaigns, respectively.<\/p>\n

Cole Hoyle, the political director for Bruin Democrats, said he believes Raman is a strong candidate who can take a stand against the federal government and prepare LA for upcoming events such as the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.<\/p>\n

Hoyle added that he was unhappy with Bass\u2019 handling of the LA fires and her approach to housing.<\/p>\n

As the November election draws near, Odega said it is important for Raman and other politicians to reach out to young voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important for candidates running for office to not take for granted the youth vote,\u201d Odega said. \u201cYoung people often don\u2019t vote as much because people aren\u2019t giving them something to vote for. If you\u2019re not engaging with the youth, if you\u2019re not presenting a vision that aligns with their interests, then it\u2019s going to be hard to get them to turn out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raman said she will ensure LA is more affordable for UCLA students if elected.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf UCLA students don\u2019t make their voices heard, don\u2019t vote for candidates who are laser-focused on the cost of housing, this city will never take this issue as seriously as it deserves,\u201d Raman said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman pledged to improve representation for young people and historically underserved communities in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492408,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,47,50,49],"class_list":["post-492407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}