Nithya Raman

Nithya V. Raman (born July 28, 1981)^[1] is an American urban planner, activist, and politician serving as the Los Angeles city councilmember for the 4th district since 2020. Raman, a member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, defeated incumbent councilmember David Ryu in 2020.^[2][3][4]

Raman is running for mayor of Los Angeles in the 2026 election.^[5]

Nithya Raman was born into a Malayali family in Kerala, India, and moved to Louisiana at 6 years old.^[6] She earned a bachelor's degree in political theory from Harvard University then a master's degree in urban planning from MIT.^[7]

After living in the United States for many years, Raman returned to her home country of India and founded the research firm Transparent Chennai. The firm's goal was to improve sanitation in the city of Chennai.^[8] Prior to entering politics, Raman founded and headed a homelessness nonprofit in Los Angeles and was the executive director of Time's Up Entertainment.^[8][9] Raman became a naturalized American citizen at the age of 22.^[10]

Raman declared her candidacy for the Los Angeles City Council in 2019, citing the issue of homelessness as being central to her decision to run.^[11] Raman's candidacy was largely fueled by grassroots volunteers, whom she claims knocked on more than 70,000 doors before the March primary.^[12] Ground Game LA, which formed following former Green Party-endorsed candidate Jessica Salans' defeat by Mitch O'Farrell in the 13th district in 2017, was credited with helping her campaign win.^[13]

Raman's platform included proposed reforms to Los Angeles' housing and homelessness policy, "a new approach to public safety," and a climate change plan that she claims will get Los Angeles to carbon neutrality by 2030.^[14][15][16] She has signed the Participatory Budget Pledge, an initiative put forward by Black Lives Matter LA which expresses a commitment to "holding a participatory budgeting process each budget cycle I hold elected office."^[17]

In the March 3, 2020 primary, Raman faced incumbent David Ryu and screenwriter Sarah Kate Levy.^[18] Ryu received 32,298 votes (44.4%), Raman received 31,502 votes (40.8%), and Sarah Kate Levy received 10,860 votes (14.1%).^[19] Because no candidate received over fifty percent of the vote, Raman and Ryu advanced to the runoff election, scheduled for November 3, 2020.

In the November 2020 runoff election, Raman defeated Ryu by a 52.87% to 47.13% margin.^[20] She served a four-year term as member of the City Council. Raman's victory was described as a "political earthquake" by the Los Angeles Times.^[21]

In 2024, Raman was challenged by Ethan Weaver, a Deputy City Attorney who received support from local landlords, business groups, and police and firefighter unions, and Levon Baronian. She won the election in the primary in March 2024, skipping a November runoff by winning 50.6% of the vote outright, versus 38.6% for Weaver, her nearest opponent.^[22]

In April 2021, Raman proposed amendments to a draft ordinance on tenant harassment. The amendments classified cash buyout offers and threats to report false information to law enforcement as forms of harassment, and included a rent adjustment penalty, which would prevent landlords who violate the ordinance from raising a unit's rent.^[23] The ordinance was passed in June 2021.^[24]

In June 2021, Raman was served with a recall notice after only six months in office.^[25] The Los Angeles Times referred to the notice as part of a "recall fever" striking California, as at least 68 other active recalls were then ongoing in the state, including the recall of Governor Gavin Newsom.^[26] In September 2021 the recall campaign collapsed when proponents announced that they were unable to collect the required number of signatures within the allotted time.^[27]

On February 1, 2022, Raman was appointed to the board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District by Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti. She replaced councilmember Joe Buscaino. She pledged to prioritize public health and environmental justice from that position.^[28]

In 2021 and 2022, Raman was one of three councilmembers to vote against L.A.M.C. Section 41.18, a city ordinance that banned homeless encampments within 500 feet of schools and daycare centers.^[29] 41.18 was adopted by the City Council by a vote of 11–3, over the objections of activists who protested the measure in the Council chamber.^[30] In remarks in a City Council meeting, Raman argued that the measure "creates a district by district arms-race, where people will get pushed around from district to district instead of having a citywide strategy that prioritizes intervention in encampments by need, by safety, by fire risk, by all of the things that we are claiming to be so concerned about. In the end, this will just push people around again. It's not going to solve homelessness or get anybody into housing."^[31]

A leaked recording between Council President Nury Martinez, Councilmembers Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo, as well as Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera revealed the group's plan to use redistricting to oust Raman. Speaking of Raman, Cedillo stated that "There's certain people who don't merit us rescuing them...She's not our ally, she's not going to help us" and de León proposed to put her district "in a blender, chop it up left or right."^[32] The group planned to split the Koreatown neighborhood, a voting bloc for Raman, so that minority voters in her renters' district would be divided and she would face a tougher reelection.^[33][34] After the conversation was leaked, Raman introduced a measure to ask voters to change the city charter so that redistricting would be handled by an independent commission.^[35][36]

In June 2023, during a protest led by UNITE HERE Local 11, the Los Angeles Police Department arrested Raman after she refused to disperse.^[37]

On February 3, 2024, Raman was censured by the Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America for seeking and accepting an endorsement by the Los Angeles chapter of the Zionist lobby group Democrats for Israel. However, she maintained her endorsement by the DSA Los Angeles chapter.^[38]

On February 7, 2026, Raman announced that she would challenge incumbent Karen Bass in the 2026 Los Angeles mayoral election.^[5] The Los Angeles Times labeled it a "surprise bid", pointing out that the announcement was made hours before the candidate filing deadline, and that Raman had endorsed Bass for re-election just weeks before.^[39] Julio Esperias, a former campaign volunteer for Raman, labeled her candidacy a "breach of trust" and "a betrayal", referencing Bass's support of Raman in her 2024 city council re-election bid.^[39] Bass herself called Raman's candidacy "a surprise", but declined to label it as betrayal.^[39]

The executive editor of the Los Angeles Sentinel invoked the 1972 song Back Stabbers in an editorial piece criticizing Raman's candidacy, stating that "[o]ne of life’s greatest disappointments is discovering that someone you believed was a friend is not."^[40] Labor union Los Angeles Police Protective League, who have endorsed Bass, claimed that "if political backstabbing were a crime, Nithya Raman would be a wanted fugitive."^[39]

In a subsequent interview, Raman cited Measure ULA as a "catalyst" for her mayoral bid. The voter-approved measure, often referred to as the "mansion tax", introduced a tax on property sales valued at over $5.3million USD.^[39] Raman, who initially supported the measure, said that it had become a "major obstacle" to building new housing.^[39] She also voiced her dissatisfaction with Bass's program to move homeless people off the street, saying that the program was not "financially sustainable". A spokesperson for the Bass campaign noted that Raman is the chair of the city council's housing and homelessness committee, and that she had previously supported the mayor's homelessness campaigns.^[39]

In 2024, amid a housing shortage in Los Angeles, Raman proposed to permit mid-sized apartment buildings near public transit stations in some neighborhoods zoned exclusively for single-family houses.^[41] The proposal was rejected by a 10–5 margin in the City Council, instead pursuing larger apartment buildings in already dense urban areas.^[41]

In response to the September 2022 Armenia–Azerbaijan clashes, Raman issue a statement "stand[ing] with the Armenian community in Los Angeles, and with Armenians worldwide, in strongly condemning Azerbaijan's unprovoked military attacks against civilians."^[42]

Raman has condemned Azerbaijan's 2022–2023 blockade of the Republic of Artsakh, stating that "[t]his is not an isolated incident". She urged the Biden administration to use diplomacy to end the conflict.^[43]

Raman was born in India and immigrated to the United States with her family at the age of six.^[44]

Raman resides in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. She is married to television screenwriter Vali Chandrasekaran, a fellow Harvard alumnus. The two have twins, Karna and Kaveri.^[45]

• List of Democratic Socialists of America who have held office in the United States