Nithya Raman Wins Los Angeles Mayoral Race

Raman was born in 1981 and spent part of her early childhood in Thiruvananthapuram. She moved to the United States with her family at age six. Her father, Venkitaraman, reportedly worked with Keltron, and her mother, Sudha Kechery, worked with Indian Overseas Bank.

After graduating from Harvard University in 2003, Raman went to Delhi, where she worked with organisations representing slum dwellers. She also worked with residents of informal settlements facing eviction ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

In 2010, she founded Transparent Chennai, an initiative that used data and mapping to document civic infrastructure and issues affecting low-income communities. Its work included mapping public toilets and bus routes and examining access to basic services in informal settlements. Raman completed a master’s degree in urban planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2013, then moved to Los Angeles.

There, she became involved in efforts addressing homelessness and co-founded the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition. Her mayoral campaign focused on housing affordability, homelessness and the delivery of municipal services.

In a post dated November 5, 2026, Raman said she had spoken with Bass and thanked her for her “leadership and decades of service.” She described the work ahead as difficult and said change would take time, adding: “Together, we are going to build a future as extraordinary as the city we call home.”