Raman Defeats Bass, Becomes Los Angeles' First South Asian Mayor

Nithya Raman won 52% of the vote to defeat incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in the Los Angeles mayoral race, according to Al Jazeera, which cited The Associated Press call made Thursday. The win makes Raman, 45, the first South Asian to lead the second-largest city in the United States, a municipality of more than 3.8 million people, Al Jazeera reported.

How did Raman win the race?

Raman, a Los Angeles City Council member born in India who previously worked as an urban planner, entered the race in February — hours before the filing deadline — after reversing an earlier endorsement of Bass's re-election bid, per Al Jazeera. Her campaign was backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), a left-wing political organization that endorses and organizes for candidates nationwide.

What happened to Karen Bass's campaign?

Bass's defeat came despite endorsements from some of the most prominent figures in the Democratic Party, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Al Jazeera reported. The outlet did not provide a breakdown of Bass's final vote share beyond noting Raman's 52% total.

How does this fit the DSA's 2026 midterm numbers?

Raman's victory lands amid what Al Jazeera described as a surge in visibility and electoral wins for the DSA. The organization says on its website that it contributed to at least 300 candidacies or ballot referendums in Tuesday's midterms and was on track to count 105 of those as wins, according to Al Jazeera's reporting. The midterms also produced a record number of DSA-backed or -affiliated winners in federal office, including first-term US House members Darializa Avila Chevalier, Claire Valdez, Melat Kiros and Chris Rabb, Al Jazeera reported. Raman's win follows Zohran Mamdani's mayoral victory in New York City the prior year, another high-profile win for a democratic socialist in a major US city.

By the numbers

• 52%: Raman's vote share in the AP-called race
• 3.8 million: Los Angeles' population, per Al Jazeera
• 300: candidacies or ballot measures the DSA says it backed in the 2026 midterms
• 105: DSA-backed wins the organization says it is on track to count

What has Raman promised to deliver?

In her victory speech, Raman pledged to expand affordable housing, improve city services and shift the city's approach to homelessness by deploying more medical teams to assist unhoused residents, Al Jazeera reported. She also called for replacing the city's police chief over concerns about cooperation with federal immigration authorities, according to the outlet.

"For too long our broken and unjust status quo has convinced Angelenos that this is the best that we can do," Raman told supporters, per Al Jazeera.

What to watch

• Whether Raman moves to replace the LAPD chief and how the department responds
• Staffing and funding details for the expanded homelessness medical-team program
• How the new administration manages preparations for the 2028 Olympic Games, which Los Angeles is set to host
• Whether other DSA-aligned officials press for similar housing and policing changes in city council votes

Raman takes office leading a city of roughly 3.8 million residents at a moment when the DSA is counting 105 wins nationally out of 300 candidacies or measures it says it backed in the midterms, per Al Jazeera's reporting.