Nithya Raman is set to become Los Angeles’ 44th mayor, defeating incumbent Karen Bass in a hard-fought election. The 45-year-old City Council member, who will take office in January, secured victory in the November 3 election.
Raman, who is affiliated with both the Democratic Socialists of America and the Democratic Party, has pledged to address the city's homeless crisis and increase affordable housing.
Born in Kerala, India, in 1981, Raman moved to the United States at age 6. Her father worked in the public sector and her mother was a bank employee in India. She became a naturalized American citizen at 22. Raman earned a bachelor's degree in social studies from Harvard University in 2003 and a master's degree in urban planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2008. After completing her master's, she returned to India to work as an urban planner in Delhi and Chennai, focusing on sanitation services.
She moved to Los Angeles in 2013 and worked for the city administrative office. Raman also worked as the executive director of Time’s Up Entertainment, an organization that emerged from the #MeToo movement to address workplace sexual harassment and abuse. In 2019, Marie Claire recognized Raman for her work with the group.
Raman's involvement in politics began with addressing homelessness in her Silver Lake neighborhood, leading her to join the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council Homeless Committee and co-found the nonprofit homeless coalition SELAH. In 2020, she won the fourth district seat on the LA City Council, becoming the first challenger to unseat an incumbent in 17 years. She was reelected in 2024.
Raman is married to television writer and producer Vail Chandrasekaran. They met as Harvard students and married in 2010. Chandrasekaran, originally from Athens, Pennsylvania, has worked on television series such as “Modern Family,” “30 Rock,” and “My Name is Earl.” The couple resides in Silver Lake and has 10-year-old twins.