Nithya Raman: Who is the Indian-born politician tipped to become next Los Angeles mayor?

Nithya Raman, an Indian-born politician and urban planner, is tipped to become the next mayor of Los Angeles, according to polling site Decision Desk HQ.

The Associated Press had Ms Raman leading with 51.7 per cent support compared to incumbent Karen Bass’s 48.3 per cent, with 67 per cent of votes counted as of Wednesday evening.

If she wins, she will become the city's first Asian-American mayor.

The Indian American would also be the most recent Democratic socialist to sweep into local office, after Zohran Mamdani in New York and Katie Wilson in Seattle, in addition to six others who are being sent to Congress.

Ms Raman received support from some of Hollywood's elite during her campaign. Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, Mike Schur, Colin Jost, Nicholas Stoller, Cord Jefferson and David Mandel were among her donors.

According to her campaign site, Ms Raman's commitments as Los Angeles mayor would be housing affordability, fixing the city's infrastructure, ending pay-to-play politics, creating jobs and protecting residents from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents. Los Angeles erupted in protests last summer over immigration raids, with President Donald Trump ultimately deploying the National Guard to the city.

Speaking of her decision to run, she said: “Even for me, the decision felt unexpected – but it also felt necessary. Over the past few years, I’ve had a growing sense that our city is falling behind. That feeling sharpened after last January’s fires, the city’s slow response and the lack of accountability at City Hall."

Who is Nithya Raman?

Ms Raman was born in Kerala in 1981. At age six, she and her mother moved to the US to settle in a Boston, Massachusetts, suburb with her father.

She graduated from Harvard University in 2003 before returning to India, where she began working with non-governmental organisations advocating slum dwellers' rights in Delhi, the Los Angeles Times reported. She then moved to Chennai for similar work.

Show caption: Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman dances with suppo…

After receiving her master's degree from MIT in 2008, she returned to Chennai, starting a non-profit pushing for investment in sanitation for unmapped slums. She and her husband left Chennai for Los Angeles in 2013.

Ms Raham ran a grassroots campaign in 2020 to join the Los Angeles City Council. She was elected for a second term in 2024.

She hosted her election night watch party at the Greek Theatre, an outdoor amphitheatre tucked within Griffith Park.

Bloomberg contributed to this report