In brief
Nithya Raman’s victory in the 2026 Los Angeles mayoral election marks a milestone as the city’s first South‑Asian mayor. With 52% of the vote, she defeats incumbent Karen Bass and promises to address homelessness, affordable housing, policing and the upcoming 2028 Olympic Games. The win, backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, signals a broader shift toward left‑wing leadership in the city.
Nithya Raman, a progressive Los Angeles City Council member, has won the mayoral race, taking 52% of the vote and becoming the city’s first South‑Asian mayor.
The Associated Press announced the race for Raman on Thursday, noting that she defeated incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in a contest that drew support for Bass from prominent Democrats such as Governor Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Raman’s campaign was backed by the Democratic Socialists of America. The organization claimed credit for a record number of left‑wing candidacies during the 2026 midterm elections, saying it had contributed to at least 300 candidacies or ballot referenda and was on track to count 105 of them as victories.
Born in India, Raman worked as an urban planner before entering politics. She entered the mayoral race in February, just hours before the filing deadline, after initially endorsing Bass’s re‑election campaign.
In a victory speech, Raman said,
For too long our broken and unjust status quo has convinced Angelenos that this is the best that we can do.
She pledged to expand affordable housing, improve city services, and take a different approach to homelessness by deploying more medical teams to assist unhoused people. Raman also called for replacing the city’s police chief over concerns about cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
The win places Raman in front of a city of more than 3.8 million people and the upcoming 2028 Olympic Games, scheduled to open in July. Her victory marks the first time in over two decades that a Los Angeles mayor has lost a re‑election bid.
