Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath has announced her endorsement of City Council member Nithya Raman in the race for Los Angeles mayor, delivering a high-profile political boost to Raman’s campaign as she seeks to build support across the Westside and the San Fernando Valley.
The endorsement provides Raman with a notable counterweight in an area where her campaign has faced headwinds: securing backing from fellow elected officials. Currently, 13 of Raman’s City Council colleagues have thrown their support behind incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, while a 14th member, Councilmember Traci Park, has stated she intends to vote for Bass despite harboring reservations.
Horvath, whose county district encompasses approximately 2 million residents, praised Raman’s willingness to challenge institutional structures, arguing that the council member will introduce fresh strategies to address homelessness, housing affordability, and emergency preparedness.
“It’s been said that she doesn’t have many friends at City Hall, and I know what that feels like,” Horvath stated. “When you take on institutional inertia and decades of refusal to change, that kind of shake-up can feel disruptive to people. But I think that’s the kind of leadership people are clamoring for in Los Angeles right now.”
The political alliance is expected to aid Raman in establishing stronger inroads within portions of Horvath’s district that previously served as strongholds for former mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, who finished third in the June 2 primary. Even with Horvath’s backing, however, Bass retains a commanding advantage in political endorsements, holding the support of the remaining four county supervisors and County Sheriff Robert Luna.
Horvath’s relationship with Bass has undergone a visible cooling. Once on amicable terms—Horvath supported Bass’s early homelessness initiatives and introduced her at the 2024 State of the City address—the two officials developed a political rift that became public following the January 2025 Palisades fire. The disaster destroyed thousands of homes and resulted in 12 deaths within Horvath’s district.
In the weeks following the blaze, Horvath sent Bass several text messages expressing dissatisfaction with the mayor’s communication strategies and crisis management. Horvath later criticized the city’s broader record on homelessness as indefensible.
In response, Bass has targeted county leadership for reallocating more than $300 million away from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority—a transition largely driven by Horvath to establish a new county homelessness agency. Bass challenged the efficacy of the move, noting that bureaucratic expansions rarely dissolve and questioning the resulting incentives to resolve the crisis.
Policy clashes between the city and county have previously drawn Raman into conflict with Horvath. Last year, Bass and Raman co-signed a warning letter to the Board of Supervisors arguing that the county funding withdrawal would cause severe disruption to municipal homelessness efforts. Raman and four additional council members personally lobbied the supervisors to halt the plan, though the board ultimately approved it. Shortly before declaring her mayoral candidacy, Raman also criticized the county’s provision of mental health services for homeless individuals and a perceived lack of transparent data.
Addressing past policy disagreements, Horvath acknowledged that she and Raman do not see eye-to-eye on every issue, but emphasized a shared professional respect and a dedication to addressing systemic shortcomings between city and county operations.
Beyond Horvath, Raman’s campaign has secured endorsements from City Controller Kenneth Mejia and school board member Rocio Rivas, both of whom have appeared alongside her at campaign events. A number of former elected officials, including former Councilmember Bernard C. Parks and former City Controller Laura Chick, have also endorsed her bid for mayor.
