Nithya Raman, mayor-elect of Los Angeles, fought back tears as the enormity of her victory began to sink in.
“This city has given me and my family a lot,” Raman, an urban planner of Indian descent who came to the United States at the age of six, told supporters in Los Angeles on Thursday evening after projections showed her victory for mayor.
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“The idea that Angelenos voted for an immigrant to be their next mayor at this moment in American history touches me deeply,” the 45-year-old said.
Raman’s victory means that three of the world’s most influential cities – New York, Los Angeles and London – will now be led by individuals of South Asian descent.
A democratic socialist, she also gives the progressive movement another leader in a major American city, after New York and Washington DC.
The result came as Democrats dominated the US midterm elections, in which the party took control of both houses of Congress and won its biggest landslide victory in half a century. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which supported Raman’s campaign, also claimed an impressive string of victories, with 105 of its endorsed candidates on track to secure elected office, according to the group.
For Raman, the victory provides a broader platform to address central elements of his policy vision for the second-largest city in the United States, including addressing the long-running homeless crisis and expanding affordable housing.
The Asian Democrats of Los Angeles County (ADLAC) congratulated Raman on becoming the first Asian-American elected official to lead Los Angeles and said they looked forward to working with her to “deliver results for our communities.”
“We’ve seen a wave of change across the country during this election, and Los Angeles is no exception,” said ADLAC President Zahra Hajee. “The political establishment should take note: voters want real solutions and a government that actually works for them. »
From South India to Los Angeles City Hall
Raman was born in the southern Indian state of Keralam and moved to the United States with her family when she was six years old.
She studied at Harvard University before earning a master’s degree in urban planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
After completing her studies, Raman returned to India and launched an initiative to improve urban governance in the southern city of Chennai.
In 2013, she moved to Los Angeles, where she co-founded a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting people experiencing homelessness. The organization SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition emphasizes that unhoused people are “members of our community worthy of the same dignity, respect and representation as any housed person.”
Raman also spent a year as entertainment director of Time’s Up, an organization founded by Hollywood figures to raise money for legal assistance for victims of sexual harassment.
Her foray into politics came in 2019, when she shocked the Los Angeles political establishment by defeating incumbent City Councilman David Ryu and becoming the first DSA-backed candidate elected to the council. She attributed this victory to a major popular mobilization campaign.
Raman’s bid for mayor this year was another surprise on the local political scene, with most Democratic Party leaders remaining loyal to incumbent Mayor Karen Bass. Raman entered the race at the 11th hour, reversing her earlier support of her former ally Bass. She said Los Angeles had reached a “breaking point” and was “no longer a place of opportunity for too many people.”
Bass has been endorsed by prominent Democrats such as California Governor Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
In the end, none of that mattered.
Homelessness, “a moral failure”
Raman’s mayoral campaign focused on expanding affordable housing, addressing the city’s decades-long homeless crisis and protecting immigrants.
His campaign described the city’s housing crisis as “the deepening moral crisis of our time.” Growing desensitization to homelessness, he adds, “is a moral failure.”
“Every time we see one of our neighbors living and dying in the streets, we should be shocked,” a campaign statement said. “Instead, in Los Angeles, it has become routine.”
Raman plans a new approach to tackling homelessness, including expanding medical teams for people living in encampments or on the streets, alongside massive new investment in housing.
She estimates her policy will cut in half the number of people sleeping in tents and encampments citywide by 2028, when the Olympics are held in Los Angeles. In 2025, the city had some 44,000 homeless people, including 27,000 living on the streets, in vehicles or in encampments, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.
Raman also pledged to replace the city’s police chief, who she said “lost the trust” of residents by failing to curb federal immigration raids by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
“Federal raids have left Angelenos afraid to live in the city they call home – where they work and raise their families,” Raman’s campaign said. “This has to stop.”
While Raman was championed by many progressive voices, she initially faced disagreement with the DSA over not making the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel an official part of its policy agenda.
Raman said she believed Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. In an October statement to DSA clarifying her position on BDS, Raman said she believed the best way for Los Angeles residents to express solidarity with Palestinians was through “nonviolent protest, legislative action, and diplomatic pressure, including BDS.”
In a close vote, the DSA decided not to revoke its Los Angeles local’s support for Raman and ultimately celebrated his election victory.
In her victory speech, Raman promised to restore what she called an ambitious, creative and entrepreneurial Los Angeles.
“For too long, our broken and unjust status quo has convinced Angelenos that this is the best we can do,” she said.
‘I am myself’
Raman joins a growing number of immigrant leaders in global metropolises.
In New York last year, Zohran Mamdani was elected the city’s first mayor born in South Asia and Africa. Like Raman, he has Indian roots; Mamdani’s father is a renowned scholar and his mother an internationally renowned filmmaker.
Abroad, Sadiq Khan, son of Pakistani immigrants, has been mayor of London since 2016. And in Toronto, Olivia Chow, who left Hong Kong for Canada at the age of 13, has been mayor since 2023.
Raman’s rise has drawn comparisons with that of Mamdani. Both have immigrant backgrounds, belong to the DSA, have advocated major changes in urban policy, particularly regarding housing, and sought protections for immigrant communities.
Ana Oaxaca Carrasco, assistant professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, said both Mamdani and Raman connect to immigrant communities through their politics and personal experiences.
“These leaders embody the multicultural realities of the cities they represent,” Carrasco told Al Jazeera. “Their names, identities, lived experiences and immigration stories are visible elements of their political appeals. »
“By openly identifying as immigrants, they have broken down barriers to political representation in a way that can resonate with immigrant communities of all national origins,” Carrasco added.
Raman said she is flattered by the comparisons to Mamdani but is careful to distinguish herself.
“Mamdani is one of the most popular politicians in America right now, and I’m very grateful to be compared to someone who is also gifted as a communicator and leader,” she said in an interview with Vanity Fair in October.
“But I’m different. I’m myself.”
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