By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – Kerala-born Nithya Raman on Friday has been elected the first Indian-American mayor of Los Angeles after defeated incumbent Karen Bass, who conceded the November 3 election on Thursday and promised a smooth transition of power.

Nithya Raman became the city’s first Indian-American mayor-elect and the first challenger to unseat an incumbent since 2005.

Raman, 45-year-old urban planner and city council member will also become the first Asian-American to lead America’s second-largest city and only its second woman mayor.

Her victory marks the first time since 2005 that a sitting Los Angeles mayor has lost a re-election bid.

“Los Angeles, I am deeply honored to be your next mayor,” Raman wrote on X on Thursday.

According to the latest figures cited by media from the Los Angeles County election authorities, Raman secured 460,772 votes, or 52.70 per cent, against Bass’s 413,519 votes, or 47.30 per cent.

The figures, updated at 4:34 pm local time on Thursday, gave Raman a lead of 47,253 votes. The results remain unofficial pending completion of ballot counting and certification.

Bass acknowledged defeat after the vote count placed Raman firmly ahead.

“I’ve called Councilmember Raman to congratulate her, and I’m committed to a smooth transition,” she wrote on X.

Bass became Los Angeles first Black woman mayor in 2022.

She thanked voters for their support. Raman also acknowledged the outgoing mayor’s decades of public service.

Raman was born in Kerala in 1981, moved to the US with her family at the age of 6.

She initially lived in Louisiana before growing up in the Boston suburbs.

Raman graduated from Harvard University and earned a master’s degree in urban planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

She worked on urban development and housing issues, including projects involving disadvantaged communities in India before entering American electoral politics.

Raman later co-founded the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition in Los Angeles in 2017.

Her political career began with an upset victory over incumbent council member David Ryu in 2020, making her the first Asian-American woman and the first South Asian elected to the Los Angeles City Council.

She secured re-election in 2024 before challenging Bass for the mayoralty.

Raman’s election brings a change in leadership to a city facing persistent concerns over housing affordability, homelessness, public safety, and basic municipal services.

Her campaign promised to accelerate housing construction, strengthen tenant protections, expand unarmed emergency response, and improve public services, including street light and pothole repairs.

The transition will also take place as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Olympic Games, placing major infrastructure, transport and public safety responsibilities before the incoming administration.

Raman had entered the mayoral contest on the final day for filing in February, challenging a political ally whom she had endorsed only weeks earlier.

Her defeat of Bass marks an uncommon electoral reversal in a city where sitting mayors had not been voted out of office for more than two decades.

Los Angeles City Council member Adrin Nazarian congratulated Raman, drawn attention to their shared experiences as immigrants who established political careers in the United States.

He expressed hope that the new administration would address rising living costs, pressure on middle-class households, public transport, and the retention of entertainment industry jobs in the city.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman also congratulated Raman and thanked Bass for her service.

“Public safety is a shared responsibility, and I look forward to working with the new mayor and her team to keep every Angeleno safe,” Hochman said.

He pledged cooperation with Raman’s administration while saying his office would continue making prosecutorial decisions based on the law and evidence.