LOS ANGELES — If Nithya Raman wins the Los Angeles mayor’s race, she will face an immediate governing hurdle: securing cooperation from a City Council where she currently lacks a single endorsement and is confronting intense public opposition.
Since Raman’s late-minute entry into the mayoral contest against incumbent Karen Bass in February, her council colleagues have leveled severe criticisms against her. The friction could carry major implications for the city, particularly as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Summer Olympics midway through the next mayoral term. Raman’s candidacy represents a closely watched test of a Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed progressive governing one of the nation’s largest cities.
To enact her platform on policing, transportation, and homelessness, Raman would need a council majority to approve her initiatives. However, her legislative track record includes repeatedly bucking the longstanding custom of council deference, where members yield to local representatives on matters within their specific districts. Council members have cited concerns ranging from her effectiveness and trustworthiness to her professorial communication style and housing policy positions that challenge traditional City Hall operations.
City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson noted that while they frequently vote together on legislation, he is actively opposing her mayoral campaign because working with her presents significant difficulties. Councilmember Monica Rodriguez similarly pointed to a deep reservoir of strained relations and a lack of foundational trust.
Observers have described the level of open hostility as extraordinary. Mike Bonin, a former council member and current executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles, called the public criticism between colleagues unprecedented.
The tension spilled over publicly during a recent mayoral debate, where Bass argued that Raman was removed from her post leading the council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee in August due to persistent friction with her peers. Councilmember Imelda Padilla, who succeeded Raman as chair of the committee, publicly criticized her leadership style, characterizing her committee management as unproductive and detached from practical governance.
Raman has defended her record, dismissing the council’s opposition as political retaliation for challenging the incumbent mayor. She pointed to her past success in expanding the city’s rent control laws as evidence that she can build consensus, expressing confidence that she could forge working relationships again if elected.
Campaign supporters maintain that some friction is inevitable for an outsider and reformer aiming to shake up City Hall. Rick Cole, a senior adviser to Raman’s campaign, argued that while tension may arise within municipal government, voters will have chosen a candidate committed to institutional change. Cole added that Raman could advance key administrative goals using executive powers, such as hiring new department leadership to oversee city services, even if the legislative body attempts to obstruct her agenda.
Raman’s political trajectory has frequently involved navigating institutional resistance. An urban planner educated at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she unseated an incumbent council member in 2020 to become the city’s first DSA-aligned representative. Her tenure subsequently featured a contentious redistricting process that altered her district boundaries and an eventual reelection victory in 2024.
As the campaign proceeds, the dynamic between Raman and her council colleagues remains a central point of debate, highlighting the deep political divisions shaping the leadership of Los Angeles.
