Nithya Raman, a 45-year-old politician of Indian origin with family roots in Keralam, has defeated incumbent Karen Bass in the Los Angeles mayoral election, becoming the first South Asian to lead the second-largest city in the United States.
Raman’s victory has drawn celebrations among the Malayali community, particularly her extended family in Keralam. She left the state at the age of six after her family moved to the United States, but has maintained ties with her relatives in Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram.
Her journey from a childhood in Keralam to the mayor’s office in Los Angeles has included an education at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), urban development work in India and years of neighbourhood-level activism in the US.
From Keralam to the United States
Born on July 28, 1981, Raman is the daughter of R Venkataraman, who worked with Keltron, a public sector electronics company in Keralam, and Sudha, an employee of Indian Overseas Bank.
Her father is from Thiruvananthapuram, while her mother is from Thrissur. Her grandfather, K Rama Iyer, worked as a postmaster, and the family once lived in the East Fort area of Thiruvananthapuram.
Venkataraman later moved to Mumbai before relocating to the United States. Raman was around six when the family followed him. She attended pre-primary classes at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Keralam. Relatives have recalled her interest in dance during childhood.
Raman last visited Thrissur in 2019 for a family function. Her relatives said she was expected to return in November 2026.
Harvard, MIT and Urban Work in India
Raman graduated in Social Studies from Harvard University in 2003 and later earned a master’s degree in City Planning from MIT.
She subsequently returned to India and worked on urban development and the concerns of marginalised communities. In 2010, she co-founded Transparent Chennai, an initiative that used research, data mapping and citizen participation to highlight gaps in access to basic services.
The organisation focused on issues including sanitation, waste management, drinking water and public services. Raman was also involved in efforts to oppose the eviction of residents of informal settlements in Delhi.
Her work centred on making urban planning more responsive to the needs of people often left out of policymaking.
From Homelessness Activism to Los Angeles City Council
Raman moved to Los Angeles in 2013 with her husband, Vali Chandrasekaran, a television writer and producer of Tamil origin.
After settling in the Silver Lake neighbourhood, she became involved in local efforts to support people experiencing homelessness. She worked with the neighbourhood council’s homelessness committee and helped establish the SELAH Neighbourhood Homeless Coalition in 2017.
The experience gradually drew her towards electoral politics. Raman believed that voluntary initiatives alone could not address the scale of Los Angeles’s housing and homelessness problems.
She ran for the Los Angeles City Council in 2020, challenging incumbent David Ryu. Backed by a grassroots volunteer campaign and the Democratic Socialists of America, she won the election and became the first South Asian person and the first Asian-American woman elected to the council.
She was re-elected in 2024, representing the city’s Fourth District. Her work has focused on affordable housing, tenants’ rights, homelessness and environmental issues.
Raman has also served as executive director of Time’s Up Entertainment, an initiative that emerged after the #MeToo movement and campaigned against sexual harassment and discrimination in the entertainment industry.
Defeats Karen Bass in Mayoral Election
Raman’s mayoral campaign focused on housing affordability, homelessness, public services and improving the city’s infrastructure. She also called for greater accountability in government spending and better public transport.
Her victory over incumbent Karen Bass makes her the first South Asian mayor of Los Angeles.
Raman is associated with the Democratic Socialists of America, a progressive political organisation. Her political rise has drawn comparisons with Zohran Mamdani, who became mayor of New York, because both have emphasised housing affordability and urban welfare.
Raman lives in Silver Lake with her husband and their twins, Karna and Kaveri.
For her relatives in Keralam, her election marks a moment of pride for a family whose daughter left the state as a young child and went on to lead one of the largest cities in the United States.
