Washington, Nov 6
Kerala-born Nithya Raman has won the Los Angeles mayoral race, becoming the first Indian-American elected to lead the city, as incumbent Karen Bass conceded defeat and pledged a smooth transition.
Raman’s victory takes the urban planner and city council member to the leadership of America’s second-largest city. She will also be its first South Asian mayor, marking another milestone in a political career that began with her election to the council in 2020.
“Los Angeles, I am deeply honored to be your next mayor,” Raman wrote on X on Thursday.
The latest Los Angeles County election returns, updated at 4:34 p.m. local time, showed Raman with 460,772 votes, or 52.70 per cent, against Bass’s 413,519 votes, or 47.30 per cent.
Her advantage had widened to 47,253 votes, up from 34,654 in the morning tally. The figures remain unofficial as election workers continue processing ballots from Tuesday’s election.
Bass’s concession and Raman’s acceptance moved the contest beyond the earlier stage when the challenger was leading and awaiting further returns.
“I’ve called Councilmember Raman to congratulate her, and I’m committed to a smooth transition,” Bass said in a post on X.
The outgoing mayor thanked her supporters and said she would continue working for the city. Raman, in turn, said she had spoken with Bass and expressed gratitude for her leadership and decades of service.
Fresh reactions highlighted both the immigrant milestone and the practical challenges facing the mayor-elect.
Los Angeles City Council member Adrin Nazarian congratulated Raman, drawing attention to their shared experience of arriving in the United States as immigrants and building new lives.
He described her rise from representing Council District 4 to winning the mayoralty as a testament to the American dream. He said he looked forward to working with her on rising costs, pressure on the middle class, public transport and keeping entertainment industry work in Los Angeles.
Nazarian also thanked Bass for her public service, including her work as a state legislator, congresswoman and the city’s first Black woman mayor.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman congratulated Raman and thanked Bass, while putting public safety at the centre of his response.
“Public safety is a shared responsibility, and I look forward to working with the new mayor and her team to keep every Angeleno safe,” he said in a statement.
Hochman said his office would continue pursuing cases according to the facts, law and evidence. He offered to work with Raman on public safety, making clear that the election would not change his office’s approach to prosecutions.
Raman’s campaign centred on housing affordability, homelessness and improving city services. LAist reported that her commitments included better pothole and street-light repairs, alongside changes to policing.
Born in India, Raman moved to the United States with her family at six. She graduated from Harvard and earned a master’s degree in urban planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before entering elected office, she worked on homelessness and co-founded the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition.
Raman became the first Asian-American woman and first South Asian elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2020. She won re-election in 2024.
