LOS ANGELES — City Councilmember Nithya Raman filed paperwork Saturday to challenge Mayor Karen Bass, launching a progressive campaign that mirrors the failed policies of New York City’s Democratic Socialist mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Raman, who chairs the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, submitted her candidacy just hours before the noon deadline. Her entry into the race brings the Democratic Socialists of America’s agenda to America’s second-largest city at a time when Los Angeles is struggling with record homelessness, rising crime, and a business exodus.
Following the Mamdani Playbook
The parallels between Raman and Mamdani are striking. Both are DSA members who won office with the organization’s backing. Both promise sweeping progressive reforms without explaining how to fund them. And both prioritize ideology over results.
Mamdani’s brief tenure in New York has already hit reality. He inherited a budget crisis exceeding $12 billion, and his promises of free buses and universal childcare have collided with fiscal constraints. Despite campaigning against fiscal austerity, he’s been forced to consider budget cuts to essential services.
Now Raman wants to bring this model to Los Angeles, a city that can’t afford more failed experiments.
A Troubling Record on Public Safety
Raman’s council votes reveal concerning priorities. In 2021 and 2022, she was one of only three councilmembers to vote against Section 41.18, which banned homeless encampments within 500 feet of schools and daycare centers. She argued the measure would just “push people around” rather than help them.
In 2023, she voted against police raises, claiming they would “trigger automatic cuts to other departments.” Critics say she chose budget politics over public safety when the city desperately needs more officers.
“The last thing Los Angeles needs is a politician who opposed cleaning up homeless encampments and efforts to make our city safer,” said Bass campaign spokesperson Douglas Herman.
Housing Policies That Discourage Investment
Despite chairing the Housing and Homelessness Committee, Raman’s approach has focused more on restricting property owners than expanding supply. In April 2021, she proposed classifying cash buyout offers as tenant harassment and pushed through penalties preventing landlords from raising rent if they violate ordinances.
Her ambitious proposal to permit mid-sized apartment buildings near transit stations was rejected 10-5 by the City Council in 2024, suggesting even her colleagues found the plan unworkable.
Meanwhile, LA’s homeless crisis has worsened. The city now has the largest unsheltered homeless population in the country.
Expensive Promises, No Funding Plan
Raman’s platform includes carbon neutrality by 2030, massive expansion of affordable housing, “a new approach to public safety,” participatory budgeting, strengthened rent control, and continued opposition to encampment enforcement.
Like Mamdani, she hasn’t explained how to pay for these proposals. The default progressive answer—tax the rich—is increasingly problematic as California’s wealthy flee to low-tax states.
DSA Influence Raises Concerns
Raman’s DSA membership signals her commitment to an organization that explicitly seeks to transform American capitalism. The group was censured her in 2024 for accepting an endorsement from Democrats for Israel, though they still backed her reelection.
If elected, Raman would join Mamdani in leading two of America’s three largest cities under DSA influence, giving the organization unprecedented power to implement its agenda.
The Stakes for Los Angeles
Los Angeles faces real challenges: businesses leaving due to high taxes and regulations, families moving to other states for affordability and safety, and a homelessness crisis that continues to worsen.
Raman argues the city is “at a breaking point.” But her solutions—more government intervention, higher spending, opposition to encampment cleanups, and restrictions on property rights—represent more of the policies that created these problems.
