Nithya Raman, an India-born Democratic Socialists of America-backed city councillor, has been elected mayor of Los Angeles, unseating incumbent Karen Bass in one of the biggest upsets of the US election cycle.
Bass conceded on Thursday after updated vote counts showed Raman with an unassailable lead, making her the city's 44th mayor.
Raman, 45, announced the win on X. "Los Angeles, I am deeply honored to be your next mayor," she wrote, adding that she had spoken to Bass and thanked her for decades of service. "The work ahead will be hard, and change will take time."
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Los Angeles, I am deeply honored to be your next mayor. I just spoke with Mayor Bass and expressed my deepest gratitude for her leadership and decades of service. Los Angeles would not be the city it is today without her. I love this city. I believe in its people. The work ahead will be hard, and change will take time. And together, we are going to build a future as extraordinary as the city we call home. Thank you, LA. Let's get to work.
— Nithya Raman (@nithyavraman) November 5, 2026
Who Is Nithya Raman?
Raman was born in Kerala in 1981 and moved to the United States with her family at the age of six, first to Louisiana and later to Massachusetts. She studied at Harvard and earned a master's degree in urban planning from MIT in 2008, then worked in New Delhi on urban poverty.
After settling in Los Angeles, she co-founded a neighbourhood homelessness coalition in 2017. In 2020 she unseated sitting councillor David Ryu, becoming the first South Asian elected to the city council. She won a second term in 2024.
How The Race Turned
Raman reached the November runoff by finishing ahead of reality television star Spencer Pratt in the June primary.
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Bass had the backing of Governor Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while Raman's support came largely from progressive groups like New York city Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
What She Has Promised
Raman has pledged to replace the police chief, whom she considers too accommodating of federal immigration enforcement. She has also promised better basic services, including street and streetlight repairs.
On homelessness, she wants to expand medical outreach teams for people living on the streets and in encampments, and to move people out of hotel rooms rented by the city into housing.
She has said she aims to at least halve the number of people in tents and encampments by 2028, when Los Angeles hosts the Olympics, according to AP. Bass had dismissed Raman's positions on policing and homelessness as "extreme".
Raman's win comes in a year of friction within the Democratic Party, with left-wing challengers taking on establishment candidates in several races.
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