Kerala-born Nithya Raman defeated incumbent Karen Bass to win the Los Angeles mayoral race, becoming the city's first Asian-American mayor. She secured 51.1 per cent of the votes. Raman will lead the city during the final years of Donald Trump’s presidency and oversee preparations for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Kerala-born Nithya Raman has defeated incumbent Karen Bass to win the Los Angeles mayoral race, making history as the city's first Asian-American mayor.

Kerala-born Nithya Raman has defeated incumbent Karen Bass in the Los Angeles mayoral race, becoming the city's first Asian-American mayor. She is set to take charge as the 44th mayor of Los Angeles, according to Decision Desk HQ.

Raman secured 51.1 per cent of the votes, while Bass received 48.33 per cent, the election projection outlet reported. She will also become the second woman to be elected to the city's highest political office.

She will lead Los Angeles during the final years of US President Donald Trump's presidency and oversee the city's preparations for the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Often compared with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Raman entered the race at the last minute despite having endorsed Bass for re-election just weeks earlier. Her campaign drew on strategies used by other candidates aligned with the democratic socialist movement.

Raman is not new to Los Angeles politics. She first entered the political arena in 2020, when she defeated incumbent City Council member David Ryu. The victory marked the first time in more than a decade that a sitting council member had lost a re-election bid.

She also became the first candidate backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) to win a seat on the Los Angeles City Council.

Born in Kerala in 1981, Raman moved to the United States at the age of six and became a naturalised American citizen at 22.

She graduated from Harvard University before earning a master's degree in urban planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Raman founded Transparent Chennai, an urban research firm focused on improving sanitation. After moving to Los Angeles in 2013, she worked with the city's administrative officer and co-founded the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition.

She also served as executive director of Time's Up Entertainment before expanding her political career in Los Angeles.