(AFP) – Democratic socialist Nithya Raman ousted incumbent Democrat Karen Bass to become the next mayor of Los Angeles, ending a heated race that saw the one-time allies spar over frustration with the status quo. Bass called Raman on Thursday to concede, after the latest numbers showed Raman with 52 percent of the vote against the outgoing mayor’s 48 percent, with three-quarters of votes counted.
“I’m deeply honored to be your next mayor,” said Raman, 45, in a statement on social media. “I love this city. I believe in its people. The work ahead will be hard, and change will take time. And together, we are going to build a future as extraordinary as the city we call home.”
Raman, 45, campaigned in the nation’s second-largest city on a platform of “pothole politics” — dubbing broken streetlights and jagged sidewalks as failures of her predecessor’s leadership — while harnessing the anger of younger voters over affordability. Her victory is yet another in the win column for candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, who have propelled a cadre of left-wing leaders into office in cities across the country as well as Congress. Raman, who was the first DSA-affiliated Los Angeles city council member, will now helm the entertainment capital as it prepares to host the 2028 Olympics.
Bass, 73, was elected in 2022 as the first Black woman mayor in Los Angeles history, and entered the role with decades of state and federal government experience. But her term was riddled with setbacks. She was haunted by her handling of deadly wildfires in 2025, which erupted while she was traveling for the Biden administration. “While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken,” Bass said in a statement. “I have called Councilmember Nithya Raman to congratulate her on her victory, and I have committed to ensuring a smooth and seamless transition. Moving this city forward is what Los Angeles needs from all of us.”
– ‘Broken status quo’ –
Raman was an 11th-hour entrant into the race and had even initially backed Bass’s re-election bid. But she made a shock decision to throw her hat in, filing in the final hours before the deadline, a decision that infuriated the city’s Democratic establishment who had coalesced around Bass despite her shortcomings. People are “dissatisfied” with the “broken status quo” of Los Angeles, Raman told AFP in the days before the November 3 midterm vote, which proved a night of dramatic gains for Democrats.
Raman didn’t declare victory on Tuesday, as California’s notoriously slow ballot counting hadn’t yet provided a clear result. But she did speak to thousands of supporters and appeared to believe her victory was inevitable. “This city’s government has made solving problems look impossible for so long,” said the Ivy League-educated urban planner. “Hopelessness can be fatal for a city, but this campaign refused to accept that.”
Raman’s rise to power is buoyed by the same forces that have generated momentum for a growing class of young candidates on the left, part of an effort to make American cities into test beds of progressive politics. That energy has accelerated since the meteoric rise of Democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani in New York, whose success has provided a blueprint for candidates like Raman.
– Maggy DONALDSON
© 2024 AFP
