Indian-born Nithya Raman makes history as LA’s next mayor
New York: Indian-born democratic socialist Nithya Raman has been elected Mayor of Los Angeles, scripting history as she becomes the first South Asian mayor of the nation’s second-largest city.
Raman, 45, who was a Los Angeles City Council member, defeated incumbent 73-year-old Karen Bass in the November 3 mid-term elections.
With this victory, America’s two largest cities – New York and Los Angeles – are now run by Indian-descent mayors who are Democratic Socialists.
Los Angeles, I am deeply honored to be your next mayor.
— Nithya Raman (@nithyavraman) November 5, 2026
I just spoke with Mayor Bass and expressed my deepest gratitude for her leadership and decades of service. Los Angeles would not be the city it is today without her.
I love this city. I believe in its people. The work… pic.twitter.com/rLNPyNafxt
“Los Angeles, I am deeply honoured to be your next Mayor. Thank you to the thousands of people who knocked on doors, sent texts, made phone calls, convinced their neighbours to believe in the promise of this big, beautiful, joyful city that we get to call home,” Raman said in a video posted on X Thursday.
Raman paid tribute to her predecessor Bass, the first woman mayor of Los Angeles, for her decades-long public service.
“I am going to City Hall to work every single day to earn your trust and to earn your trust in this city again. And that work starts now, so that we can build housing that people can afford, parks for our children to play in, a transit system that can get people where they need to go, a city that is safe for its working people and its families, and a city government that is actually capable of delivering on its promises,” Raman said.
LA City Councilmember for District 4, Kerala-born Raman is an urban planner by training, and she received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard and a graduate degree from MIT.
Raman is among the several Indian-American candidates who have emerged victorious across the country in the US midterm elections that concluded Tuesday and delivered a significant rebuke to President Donald Trump and the Republicans as the Democrats gained control of the House and Senate, flipping seats and traditional party strongholds in a massive blue wave across America.
Indian American Impact, an organisation that empowers South Asian and Indian-American communities through community engagement, civic partnerships, and candidate support, congratulated Raman on her victory in the general election for Mayor of Los Angeles.
Noting that Raman will become the first South Asian American mayor of the nation’s second-largest city, the Indian American Impact said her victory reflects the growing political power of South Asian Americans in California, a state with more than one million South Asian residents, the largest such population in the country.
Executive Director of Indian American Impact Chintan Patel said in a statement that Raman ran on lowering rents, building housing faster, and making city services work for Angelenos, and voters chose her to deliver it.
“With her win, South Asian Americans will lead the two largest cities in the United States,” Patel said, referring to New York and its Mayor Mamdani.
The 5.5 million-strong Indian-American community registered significant political gains in the midterms, with several candidates from the community winning historic elections to various positions across the country.
Pia Dandiya of Florida and Dr Amish Shah of Arizona will be the newest Indian-American members of the US Congress, with their victories speaking to the “growing political power of our communities.”
They will join Representative Ami Bera, Representative Pramila Jayapal, Representative Ro Khanna and Representative Suhas Subramanyam at Capitol Hill.
“At a time of rising hate against our communities, representation matters, and they will fight to keep our communities safe,” Indian American Impact said. “All six are committed to lowering costs for working families, expanding access to health care, and protecting immigrants, and they will serve as a powerful check on the Trump administration in the next Congress,” the organisation said.
Among the other notable election victories are that of Manoj Chourasia, who has been reelected to the New Hampshire State House, Darshana Patel who won her reelection to the California State Assembly, Ranjeev Puri whose won reelection to the Michigan House of Representatives.
With Democrats retaking the chamber, Puri is expected to become Michigan’s next Speaker of the House, which would make him the first Indian American Speaker of a state House in the country.
Dr Krish Subrahmanian won his election for the Minnesota State Senate; Aruna Miller has been reelected as Lieutenant Governor of Maryland; Lisa Kaul won her election for the New York State Senate, defeating a Republican incumbent and flipping a seat in New York; and Nabeela Syed won her election for Illinois State Senate District 26.
Amar Mukunda won his election to the Maryland State Senate; Saba Haider has been elected to the Illinois State House; Josh Kaul has been re-elected as Wisconsin’s Attorney General; Pooja Sethi won her election to the Texas House, District 47, becoming the first Indian American to serve in the Texas legislature; and Jyot Singh has been elected to the Georgia State House, District 97, the first Indian American and first Sikh American elected to the Georgia State Legislature.
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