Desi Talk

www.desitalk.com – that’s all you need to know 12 NATIONAL AFFAIRS June 12, 2026 N ithya Raman, a liberal Los Angeles City coun- cil member, will head to a runoff with Mayor Karen Bass (D) to lead America’s second- most-populous city, the Associated Press projected Monday. Raman edged out Spencer Pratt, a Republican real- ity TV star, for the chance to go head-to-head with Bass in November. Because Bass fell short of the ma- jority vote required to avoid a runoff in the nominally nonpartisan contest, the top two vote-getters face off again in the fall. Raman was once an ally of Bass and endorsed her for a second term. But the council member decided to challenge Bass at the last minute, saying voters are eager for change and the city is failing on “the basics.” Pratt’s loss in the primary is likely to fan GOP outrage at California’s unusually slow process for counting votes. Pratt pulled well ahead of Raman after the polls closed on Tuesday before his lead eroded. Political observers cautioned that mail-in votes count- ed later on could tilt Democratic and improve Raman’s position. But some in the GOP have suggested, without evidence, that late shifts toward Democrats are evidence of election fraud – echoing President Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election. Pratt – who rose to fame as a self-described “villain” on the MTV show “The Hills” – tapped into frustration with the status quo in Los Angeles and anger over the Palisades fire that destroyed his home and thousands of others last year. He called Bass “Karen Basura” – using the Spanish word for garbage – and referred to homeless people with drug addictions as “zombies,” advocating mandatory medical treatment and arrests to help clear them off the streets. Raman, first elected to City Council in 2020, chal- lenged Bass from the left. She was the first candidate backed by the Democratic Socialists of America to win a seat on the council. But she has broken with DSA at times, and DSA-LA did not make an endorse- ment in the mayoral primary. An urban planner, Raman has championed a “YIMBY,” or “Yes in my backyard,” push for more housing. She has also criticized Bass’s “Inside Safe” homeless program as too costly. Bass has emphasized that Raman is no outsider to city politics, despite her pitch for change. The fact that Bass has been forced into a runoff – the first for an L.A. mayor in two decades – nods to many voters’ frustration. Bass, a former congresswoman and State Assembly speaker, has defended her first-term record, pointing to decreases in the city’s homeless population and efforts to build new housing. She faced fierce criticism last year for her handling of the wildfire in Los Angeles’s Pacific Palisades neighbor- hood that left 12 people dead. Bass was on a diplomatic trip to Ghana when the blaze exploded – “one of the worst moments of my life,” she said at a mayoral debate. -TheWashington Post By Hannah Knowles Liberal Council Member Nithya Raman Advances To Runoff With Bass In Los Angeles Mayor’s Race Nithya V. Raman, now in the runoffs for LA Mayor, was endorsed by Bernie Sanders. PHOTO:X.COM @NITHYAVRAMAN Who Is Nithya Raman? T he Kerala-born, 44 year-old Harvard graduate with a Masters in Urban Planning fromMIT, Nithya V. Raman, an immigrant from Kerala, continues to beat the odds from the time she got elected as City Councillor in 2020, in the City of Angels. In the June 2, 2026, open primaries, she did it again when she bumped up to 2nd place to enter a runoff for Mayor of Los Angeles, against a fellow Democrat and incumbent Mayor Karen Bass. Raman, who is also a Democrat and a proclaimed Democratic Socialist like NewYork City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, began as an advocate to end homelessness, co-founding SELAH- a Neighborhood Homeless Coali- tion and began organizing her neighbors to provide direct help, according to her bio on nithyaforthecity.com. In 2020, 2,000 volunteers knocked on more than 80,000 doors to make Raman’s run for City Council to represent District 4, ended in a victory, and a defeat for a long-term incumbent. The Los Angeles Times described it as “a political earthquake.” Indian Americans are hoping Raman will create an- other earthquake come November 3 general elections, which if she wins, would make her the Mayor of the second-largest city in the nation. Some newspaper headlines make it sound like the “earthquake” has already happened –The LA Times headline read – In L.A. mayor’s race, controversial poll shows Nithya Raman ahead of Karen Bass. “Rising Progressive Star Shakes Up Race for Los Ange- les Mayor” proclaimed Deadline. In a questionnaire that Ballotpedia asks all candidates to answer, Raman says, “I’m running for mayor to make Los Angeles a city that works — not just for the powerful interests, but for all Angelenos.” When she saw what she said was a gap between what people need and what government actually delivers, she ran against her own representative, she ran against him and defeated him. “I’ve spent five years on the City Council proving that government can deliver when it has the urgency and accountability to do so — passing some of the strongest tenant protections in the country, cutting rent increases for more than one million Angelenos for the first time in 40 years, and driving a 54% reduction in tents and home- less encampments in my district by moving people into shelter and housing,” she notes. Her campaign agenda revolves around affordable housing and ending homelessness to make it a ‘city that works’. As mayor, she said, her commitments to the city are: Make sure Angelenos have a home they can afford; Fix the city: fill the potholes, pave the roads, plant trees, turn on streetlights, and put a park near where you live; Protect Angelenos: from ICE, from harassing landlords, from unsafe streets, from fires and natural disasters. I’ll make sure when you call 911, someone actually shows up; End the pay-to-play politics that have dominated the city for decades. I will not make political decisions. Only the best decisions for Angelenos; and Bring the jobs back. I’ll make it easier to start and run a business. We’ll revive small businesses, support restaurants and bars, and bring the Hollywood jobs back home. “This victory reflects the growing political power of Indian and South Asian American communities in California, a state with more than 1 million South Asian residents – the largest such population in the country,” noted Indian American Impact, an advocacy organiza- tion that has energized the community’s rising political visibility, and endorsed more than 200 candidates around the country. Chintan Patel, executive director of Indian American Impact, commenting on Raman’s victory, called it “a testament to the power of a campaign built on a simple, urgent truth: Los Angeles must be affordable and safe for everyone.” He went on to claim that voters recognized “Nithya Raman is exactly the leader this city needs. Her vision for a city where working families can afford to stay, immigrants are protected, and no one is left behind has resonated across one of the most diverse electorates in America. As an immigrant herself, Nithya knows first- hand what is at stake for communities like ours.” Raman’s website says, “Nithya believes Los Angeles is in a moment of crisis that requires urgency, accountabil- ity, and ambition, not half-measures and protecting the status quo.” Nithya lives in Silver Lake with her husband Vali Chan- drasekaran, and 10-year old twins. By a StaffWriter Nithya V. Raman. PHOTO:NITHYAFORTHECITY.COM