Keralam-Born Nithya Raman Makes History as Los Angeles’ First Asian-American Mayor

Kerala-born Nithya Raman has won the 2026 Los Angeles mayoral race, defeating incumbent Mayor Karen Bass to become the city's first Asian-American mayor and the second woman elected to the office.The race was called Thursday morning (India time) with Raman leading by about 26,000 votes--roughly 3 percent--out of 784,262 votes cast. Born in Kerala on July 28, 1981, Raman moved to Louisiana when she was six, subsequently obtaining US citizenship at the age of 22.She earned a bachelor's degree in political theory from Harvard University and then a master's degree in urban planning from MIT.Following her relocation to Los Angeles in 2013, she collaborated with the municipal administrative officer, helped establish the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition, and served as executive director at Time's Up Entertainment. A member of the Democratic Socialist movement, Raman has served for six years as a City Council member.Voter priorities heading into the election underscored the immense municipal challenges facing the city. A poll conducted by Berkeley IGS and the Los Angeles Times from October 19 to 25 revealed that roughly 40 per cent of likely voters considered reducing homeless encampments a primary focus for the incoming mayor.