Nithya Raman, a Kerala-born city councilmember, goes into Los Angeles' 3 November mayoral runoff ahead of incumbent Karen Bass in several polls.
A win would make her the first South Asian woman to hold the job. A large share of voters is still undecided.
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Who Is Nithya Raman
Raman, 44, was born in Kerala to a Tamil family and moved to the US at six. She grew up in Louisiana before her family settled in Massachusetts. She studied at Harvard and then MIT, and went back to India to found Transparent Chennai, a research group working on sanitation and the environment.
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She co-founded the SELAH Neighbourhood Homeless Coalition in Los Angeles. In 2020, she beat incumbent David Ryu in the council runoff, 52.9% to 47.1%.
A Late Entry Against Her Own Ally
Raman filed to run for mayor hours before the February deadline, less than two weeks after endorsing Bass. She and Bass were the top two finishers in the June first round, ahead of reality TV personality Spencer Pratt.
Raman was third on election night before late-counted ballots moved her up.
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The Mamdani Comparison
The race invites comparisons to Zohran Mamdani, another DSA-backed politician who was elected mayor of New York City. Raman's DSA ties are complicated. The Los Angeles chapter endorsed her in a 937-484 vote.
DSA's national committee found on 4 October that the chapter broke endorsement rules by not asking her about the BDS movement, but did not invalidate its support.
Raman has said Israel has a right to exist. The Los Angeles Times has noted that her stances on homelessness and protecting immigrants are similar to Bass's.
What The Polls Say
A UC Berkeley poll with the Los Angeles Times found Raman at 39% to Bass's 28%, with 33% undecided. A Manhattan Institute poll had her ahead 38% to 32%.
Not every poll agrees: an August survey for a pro-Bass group had the mayor ahead 41% to 35%. A widely shared poll showing Bass up by nearly 12 points was later reported to be fake. The Berkeley poll also found 63% of respondents disapproving of Bass's performance.
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The Campaign
Raman has focused on housing affordability, tenant protections and a housing-first approach to homelessness. She claims on her website that 40% of people moved indoors under Bass's Inside Safe programme returned to the streets.
Bass's camp says Raman allows encampments near schools and cuts the police force. Raman has said the LAPD must not shrink further, a shift from her earlier "defund the police" position.
What To Watch
Hollywood stars are urging voters to re-elect Bass, though outside money has flowed mostly to Raman's side. Almost two-thirds of Pratt's first-round voters had not chosen between the two.
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