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WESTSIDE - In what was initially anticipated as a rematch from the center right in Rick Caruso has devolved into a hard charge from the progressive left as LA Councilwoman Nithya Raman has filed to unseat first-term incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in this year's non-partisan June Primary.
When asked today on a ZOOM call with West LA Democrats, Bass said she was "flabbergasted" by her entry into the race and looked forward to "repairing the relationship" with the second term councilmember. Several Democrats on the call were also shocked by Raman's last-minute plunge.
Raman, the 44-year old urban planner and member of the Democratic Socialists is seeking to replicate the upset win by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the former Queens County state legislator who succeeded incumbent Eric Adams when he shocked and rocked New York's political establishment by vanquishing political royalty in former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic Primary and again in the general election last November.
Some say it was Mamdani's win that had the expected challenger; billionaire Rick Caruso reconsidered and leaving the race.
Born in India and naturalized an American citizen, Raman headed a homeless non-profit before running for a city council seat and disposing of incumbent David Ryu. In 2024 Raman won a first ballot victory for reelection when she easily defeated a well-funded challenge from Ethan Weaver.
A graduate of Harvard University (BA) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a master's in urban planning, Raman was one of just three council members that opposed 41.18, the LA municipal ordinance that prevented unhoused individuals from encamping 500 feet from schools and other sensitive use locations.
The last-minute entrance by Raman completely changes the dynamics of the mayoral race as many anticipated a sleepy path to June with Caruso off the ballot. For this progressive left challenge of Bass, a classic liberal and former US house representative and state assembly speaker pits the 72-year-old incumbent in the uncomfortable position of fending off a serious race from her left.
Bass, a veteran of many political battles, has never lost an election, and has rebounded quite well from the criticisms surrounding her leadership regarding the wildfires of last year that has plagued her tenure for months.
While labeled a non-partisan contest, the political overtones are obvious and evident as a battle for the soul and future of the Democratic Party both locally and nationally is at stake with the up-and-coming Raman and Bass, the savvy veteran of Los Angeles politics for decades.
For the similarities between this race and the contest last November in New York City pit old against new in style, character and technology, as Raman's race could mimic the approach by Mamdani, who used digital ads and online strategies to motivate his base of college educated professionals along with working class voters in the four outer boroughs who were hungry for a message that was not "status quo" politics, but solutions based goals and objectives that spoke to this new breed of voter, unattached from the usual political norms.
In a special election held in New Jersey's 11th CD just last week, nationally known socialist icons like Vermont US Senator Bernie Sanders (I) and US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), have engineered an apparent upset as labor organizer and former Sanders staffer Analilia Mejia holds a slim lead over former US Congressman Tom Malinowski, a Hunterdon County Democratic Chair 18,512 to 17,644 (29.1% to 27.7%) with nearly 93% of the votes tabulated and about 5,000 to be counted as of this writing.
Mejia, who ran in this affluent, suburban district vacated by NJ Governor Mikie Sherrill, has demonstrated the growing influence and popularity of the progressive left around the country as Democrats are poised to retake the House come November.
California Democrats alone are expected to flip between 5-7 House seats, as numbers range between 25-35 seats being flipped and thus making Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) the new Speaker of the House of Representatives come January of 2027.
For what looked like a clear path to reelection for Bass now looks like her most serious challenge in her long and undefeated political resume with Raman now entering the race.
(Nick Antonicello is a thirty-three-year resident of Venice who is covering the Los Angeles race for mayor. Have a take or a tip? Contact him via e-mail at [email protected].)
