L.A. voters went bold by choosing Raman as mayor. Let’s hope she stays bold
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Bold.
That’s what I initially thought when a political novice named Nithya Raman upset an incumbent in 2020 to become the first democratic socialist elected to the Los Angeles City Council.
That’s what I felt when Raman weathered well-funded challengers and loudmouth opponents to win reelection outright in the 2024 primary, despite representing a district redrawn to her disadvantage.
Bold was Raman filing to run for mayor just before the deadline. Taking on her ally Karen Bass, an L.A. institution she had endorsed just weeks earlier. Angering members of the Democratic Socialists of America’s L.A. chapter, who hadn’t planned to mount a mayoral campaign this year. Calling out L.A. establishment shibboleths like the pricey Convention Center renovation.
Picking Stevie Wonder’s “Living for the City” as a campaign theme song despite its stark lyrics of urban despair. Dancing with all the grace of Elaine from “Seinfeld” on primary night, despite being in third place at the time.
Bass conceded her loss in a phone call to Raman on Thursday. ‘While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken,’ Bass said.
“Bold,” I texted a friend when we found out Raman was holding her Nov. 3 election night party at the Greek Theatre — either a brilliant move that would mark the start of a new day for L.A., or the worst venue choice for a political loser since Hillary Clinton threw her 2016 party in a hotel ballroom with a glass ceiling.
Bold was all Raman had going for her. Bass raised more funds and was backed by L.A.’s blue establishment. Haters, from the Los Angeles Police Protective League to the California Post to her fellow City Council members, painted Raman as an immature, insecure pinko wimp who didn’t know L.A. and barely could do her job, let alone run one of the world’s great cities.
But Raman didn’t stop. She left the hipster areas of the city where democratic socialists have found a base and campaigned in districts represented by council members who openly loathed her. She trotted out her imperfect Spanish to show that she wanted to reach Angelenos in any way possible and was vulnerable enough to reveal that she still was learning. Raman even teared up in public, which City Hall insiders have long mocked her for, when crying in the name of trying for a better L.A. is as bold as you can get.
Bold is what this metropolis needs. And bold is what Los Angeles is going to get now that Raman has taken out Bass in a campaign for the ages.
Standing before L.A. mayoral candidate Nithya Raman was the coalition that made her unlikely rise happen, paralleling the one that made the Democratic Party’s takeover of the House and Senate possible.
Critics will downplay the victory as more a verdict on a deeply unpopular mayor than an embrace of Raman — a tree stump could have trounced Bass, they’re already saying. But that’s not what heavyweights who have long aspired to become mayor — like billionaire developer Rick Caruso, L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez — were thinking when they had the chance to run this year and chose not to.
They saw the road to City Hall as too dangerous to risk their reputations on a potential loss. They weren’t bold.
I can’t say I saw any of this coming. I did call Raman the comeback kid of L.A. politics in a September columna, as indefatigable a politician as I’ve ever covered. But she spent the last month of her campaign apologizing for easily preventable gaffes that seemed to confirm all the skepticism about her. The attacks against Raman became nastier and more relentless, while Bass glommed on to anyone she thought might get her more votes, from walking alongside Caruso to standing next to future governor Xavier Becerra at Homegirl Cafe the day before the election.
I told a friend on the morning of the election that Bass probably was going to win. Angelenos wouldn’t be brave enough to go with Raman. As I wrote just a few weeks ago, Los Angeles has long gone with the old for mayor, when it could have gone bold.
Not this time.
As mayor, Raman will need to be bolder than ever. Angelenos yearn for safer streets, an end to homelessness, a renewal of the dreamland that the city has represented for more than a century. They want less of the bureaucracy that has slowed down rebuilding in Pacific Palisades and made running a small business more of a punishment than a reward. They don’t want someone beholden to any ideology other than that the City of Angels needs to be heaven again.
Raman will assume office with nearly half of those who voted, not to mention the entire City Council, having supported her opponent. She needs to go in with the humility to convince naysayers, the conviction to get rid of things and people that aren’t making L.A. better, the smarts to keep what works, the courage to defy the DSA and the vision to make the city believe in itself once again.
Above all, Raman needs to be bold enough to not become another Karen Bass.
The lifelong Angeleno used to be bold when she was an activist in South L.A. pioneering multiracial coalitions and taking on the old guard. She was an effective Assembly member and Congress member. But City Hall sucked out her creativity, her optimism, her drive. She became cautious, then negative. By the end of the race, Bass seemed to be running only so she could say she kept away another DSA insurgent as a final gift to the city.
Bright-eyed outsiders drowning in the swamp — that’s the story of L.A. politics. It’s a story Raman needs to show can come to an end.
“Bold” ultimately is having hope that you can be the one who breaks systems that need to be obliterated. That was the other big note Raman incessantly hit during her campaign, culminating in her election night speech at the Greek.
“Hopelessness can be fatal for a city,” she told an adoring crowd that kept getting bigger and bigger until security closed off the entrances. “But this campaign refused to accept that. You refuse to accept that. You saw hopelessness, and you chose hope.”
Angelenos chose bold. Let’s hope Raman stays bold.
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Ideas expressed in the piece
- Arellano argues that Raman’s victory was a consequential choice for change: despite a better-funded opponent, criticism from political insiders and doubts about her experience, she campaigned beyond her base and won by offering voters hope and a willingness to challenge City Hall’s habits.
- The column presents Raman’s willingness to take political risks—including questioning costly projects and trying to reach voters in imperfect Spanish—as evidence of the boldness Los Angeles needs. Her policy agenda also includes expanding housing and transit-oriented development and pursuing different approaches to homelessness.[1]
- But the column frames the win as a beginning, not a mandate to govern alone. It urges Raman to pair conviction with humility, work to persuade skeptics on a largely opposing City Council, keep what is effective and resist pressure to abandon her ambitions.[8]
- Arellano’s central warning is that City Hall can make outsiders cautious and dispirited. Raman, the column contends, must preserve the optimism and willingness to challenge failing systems that helped define her campaign.
Different views on the topic
- Critics have argued that Raman is not ready to lead a city facing major demands, including the 2028 Olympics. Karen Bass emphasized her own experience and questioned Raman’s record on homelessness and housing; Bass and her allies also raised concerns about Raman’s positions on policing and the Games.[2][6][7]
- Some council members have criticized Raman’s working relationships, effectiveness and shifting positions. Those concerns could pose a practical obstacle: advancing her agenda on housing, transportation and homelessness will require cooperation from a City Council where many members supported Bass.[4][8]
- The election result may not represent a broad endorsement of Raman’s approach. As the article acknowledges, critics may interpret it primarily as a rejection of Bass; reporting before the election also documented concerns among some constituents about district services, including sidewalks and encampment response.[3]
- Raman’s proposals have drawn concern from some business and property interests. Real-estate representatives have criticized renter protections and warned that her approach could hurt business or investor confidence, even as her campaign also promised to streamline permitting and encourage development.[5]
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