Nithya Raman Projected to Defeat Karen Bass in Los Angeles Race

Raman campaigned on homelessness and affordability, alongside changes to housing, transport and street safety. A former executive director of Time’s Up, she won her council seat in 2020. Her endorsers included climate action groups, UNITE Here Local 11, Eastside Padres Contra la Privatización and the Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.

She has called for faster approval of housing projects, an Office of Tenant Protections for the roughly 64% of Angelenos who rent, and a reshaping of homelessness programs to shelter and house more people with existing funds. Raman criticized Bass’ Inside Safe program, saying it had spent more than $300 million to house 6,000 people, with 40% of those served returning to the streets. Her campaign said motel rooms and services cost an average of $85,000 annually, with some costing $100,000, and argued that rental vouchers could house more people.

Raman cited a nearly 50% drop in homelessness in her own district and pledged to cut the citywide rate by 50% before the 2028 Olympics. She also proposed safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists, faster repairs to 30,000 street lights, and dedicated bus lanes with more frequent service. On wildfire recovery, she called for a “Recovery District” to coordinate work across jurisdictions and bring hundreds of millions of dollars into the Palisades.

The tally was continuing as officials counted late ballots, which the article said are typically cast by younger and more progressive voters. UNITE Here Local 11 co-president Kurt Petersen described Raman’s projected win to Politico as a rebuke to the city’s political establishment, whose council members backed Bass. Bass was endorsed by the Los Angeles Police Department’s union, which spent more than $5 million opposing Raman and donated $200,000 to the Republican Central Committee of Los Angeles County, which sent anti-Raman mailers.