Indian-American Nithya Raman Leads Los Angeles Mayoral Race
Raman won about 40% of the nearly 48,000 votes reported by Los Angeles County on Sunday, securing roughly 10,000 more votes than Spencer Pratt
Los Angeles: Indian-American Nithya Raman is narrowly leading the race for the second spot in the Los Angeles mayoral election scheduled for November, following a vote update released on Sunday evening (local time), CNN reported.
According to CNN, Raman won about 40% of the nearly 48,000 votes reported by Los Angeles County on Sunday, securing roughly 10,000 more votes than Spencer Pratt and extending her lead over him to about 3,000 votes.
Across all votes counted since election night following the June 2 primary, Raman has outperformed both Karen Bass and Pratt. She has gained 43,000 votes on Pratt and increased her overall share of the vote by about five percentage points.
CNN reported that the latest vote batches were Raman's strongest of the contest, with her winning about 40% of each batch compared to Pratt's 18%.
While the race is officially nonpartisan, Pratt is a registered Republican, whereas Raman has campaigned as a progressive candidate.
California elections often take several days to be finalized, as the state primarily conducts mail-in voting and counts properly postmarked ballots received up to seven days after Election Day, CNN noted.
Raman, a Los Angeles City Council member representing District 4, is an urban planner and a graduate of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
According to her official website, she won a historic victory in 2020, becoming the first Asian-American woman and the first South Asian elected to the Los Angeles City Council. In March 2024, she was decisively re-elected to a second term.
ABC News reported that Raman was also the first challenger in 17 years to defeat an incumbent council member.
Since taking office, Raman has focused on expanding services for people experiencing homelessness, increasing affordable housing, and accelerating efforts to meet the city's climate goals.
