Who is Nithya Raman, the democratic socialist who will be Los Angeles’s next mayor?

Nithya Raman has defeated Karen Bass in a close Los Angeles mayoral race, despite little support from city council colleagues, including fellow democratic socialists. Her victory puts democratic socialist mayors in charge of the two largest US cities and Washington DC, while her record suggests an independent political style and a sometimes fraught relationship with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

An urban planner, Raman first entered elected office in 2020, unseating a sitting council member for the first time in 17 years after a grassroots campaign that she said knocked on 80,000 doors. Housing, homelessness and tenants’ rights are central to her agenda; she wants to triple annual housing construction, spanning affordable and market-rate homes, social housing and shelters. The local DSA chapter endorsed her in the mayoral run-off after initially backing Bass, and its endorsement nearly faced a national vote to rescind it over Raman’s position on Israel.